Systems and methods for providing enhanced sports watching media guidance

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for enhanced sports-related media content access and display are provided. An intelligent tuning module for multi-tuner systems may designate one sporting event as a primary sporting event and another sporting event as a secondary sporting event. A primary tuner may tune the primary event whenever possible and a secondary tuner may tune the secondary event whenever possible. Sporting events may be assigned user profile scores and tuned away from in reverse priority order. An interactive scoreboard may also be displayed with various game status and alert icons. The interactive scoreboard may allow a viewer to quickly tune between high-interest sporting events. Sports-specific features, such as wagering and fantasy league support, are also provided.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Nos.60/834,605, filed Jul. 31, 2006 and 60/903,808, filed Feb. 26, 2007,both of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in theirentireties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to media systems and, moreparticularly, to media systems with sports-specific viewing and tuningenhancements.

An interactive media guidance application, such as an interactivetelevision program guide, allows a user to tune to and display a widearray of media content that is available within a media system. It alsofacilitates the display of additional information (e.g., programschedule and summary information) about the media content. Thisadditional information may be accessed from a variety of data sourcesand data feeds and may include, for example, content summaries, genreclassifications, and ratings information. The interactive media guidanceapplication may also support advanced features, such as contentsearching and filtering, channel scanning, and access to otherinteractive applications, such as a home shopping application.

Such media guidance applications are typically generalized applicationsthat support basic media guidance functionality for a wide array ofmedia content of a variety of different genres and subgenres. Theseapplications, however, typically fail to provide a custom set offeatures and functionality for specific types of media content, such assporting events and other sports-related content.

In addition, some media guidance applications fail to take fulladvantage of today's high-end user equipment devices. For example,current user equipment devices may support multiple digital or analogtuners, allowing for more than one channel or media content to be tuned,displayed, and/or recorded simultaneously. Current media guidanceapplications fail to efficiently manage and leverage the capabilities ofmultiple tuners to better match how certain types of viewers (e.g.,sports viewers) commonly watch and interact with sporting eventsdisplayed on the user equipment device. As a result, idle tuners areoften untuned or tuned to content that is not of particular interest tothe viewer. In addition, traditional tuner management schemes formulti-tuner systems are not optimized for certain types of viewing, suchas sports viewing.

For example, in order to tune and display a digital television channel,many steps typically are performed. The digital content may first bedemodulated from a digital carrier frequency and then FEC decoded fromthe demodulated transport stream (TS). The digital content may then bedemultiplexed from the demodulated transport stream. After the digitalcontent is demultiplexed from the transport stream, the content may beextracted from a particular packet identifier (PID) stream. In addition,decryption and decoding (e.g., MPEG-2 or H.264 decoding) may berequired. These digital tuning and decoding processes may take anappreciable amount of time, during which a blank or black screen istypically displayed to the viewer. This idle time is particularlynoticeable to users who switch back and forth between a small number ofcontent selections, like the way sports viewers switch back and forthbetween a small number of televised sporting events.

In addition, a viewer is unable to efficiently switch between sportingevents of interest to the viewer at any given time. For example,although some user equipment devices support last channel recall orsimilar functionality, last channel recall functions are typicallylimited to switching back only to the most recently accessed televisionchannel. The ability to efficiently switch between multiplehigh-interest content selections is severely limited. Real-timebuffering and immediate video control (e.g., pause and rewind functions)after switching to a sporting event of interest are also severelylimited because of idle tuners or tuners tuned to arbitrary content.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with principles of the present invention, systems andmethods for providing enhanced information access and viewingfunctionality for sports-related programming are provided. Aninteractive “sports watcher” application may execute at least partiallyon a local user equipment device to support the enhanced access andviewing functionality. In some embodiments, the interactive sportswatcher application is integrated as a mode of another interactiveapplication already resident on the user equipment device. For example,the sports watcher application may be integrated with an interactivemedia guidance application, such as an interactive television programguide. In other embodiments, a separate interactive sports watcherapplication or module is provided. This application or module may beautomatically invoked by the interactive media guidance application whencertain pre-determined conditions are met (e.g., when sports-relatedprogramming or information is requested, accessed, or displayed).

A user may designate a first sporting event as a primary sporting eventand up to N−1 additional sporting events as secondary sporting events,where N is the number of available tuners in the user equipment device.One tuner may be designated as the primary tuner that, wheneverpossible, is tuned to the primary sporting event. The other N−1 tunersmay be designated secondary tuners, each of which may be assigned alower priority than the primary tuner. After receiving a request tochange channels or access content that requires an available tuner, thesecondary tuner with the lowest priority may be used to tune to therequested channel or access the requested content. In this way, theprimary sporting event may be tuned on the primary tuner wheneverpossible. Sporting events designated as primary or secondary sportingevents may be manually selected by the user, or the interactive sportswatcher application may automatically designate certain events asprimary or secondary sporting events. This designation may be based, atleast in part, on user profile information, user preferences, activeuser monitoring, user history information, network viewing statistics,third-party ratings information (e.g., Nielson ratings), or any othersuitable criterion or combination of criteria.

The interactive sports watcher application may maintain a dynamic,real-time buffer for each tuned sporting event. The user may have fullcontrol over each real-time buffer, including pause, instant replay, andslow motion replay control. In some embodiments, the characteristics ofthe buffers (e.g., buffer size, buffer window, and/or buffer resolution)may differ depending on the type of sport, whether the buffered sportingevent is designated as a primary sporting event, secondary sportingevent, or otherwise matches the user's predefined sports viewing eventpreferences. For example, a high-speed basketball game may be bufferedat the highest available resolution (e.g., in high-definition, ifavailable), while a golf tournament may be buffered in a lowerresolution (e.g., standard definition). In addition, the buffer window(i.e., the length of time buffered) may be longer for the basketballgame than the golf tournament, depending on user preferences.

In some embodiments, the interactive sports watcher application maymonitor all media content access requests on the user equipment device.When sports-related content is accessed, an interactive scoreboard maybe automatically displayed in one area of the display screen while therequested sports-related content (e.g., a sporting event, sports news,or sports commentary) is displayed in another area of the screen. Theinteractive scoreboard may include an identification of a plurality ofsporting events that are in progress, recently ended, or matchuser-defined preference criteria. The current score of each sportingevent may be provided within the interactive scoreboard. A user mayinteract with the scoreboard to obtain more detailed information about asporting event, automatically tune a sporting event, or automaticallydesignate a sporting event as a primary or secondary sporting event.

The interactive scoreboard may also feature a variety of icons thatindicate the status of sporting events associated with scores displayedin the scoreboard. For example, one icon may indicate that the sportingevent is currently tuned by a tuner in the user equipment device.Another icon may indicate that the event is currently displayed in themain screen or active window. Game status icons may also be included inthe interactive scoreboard. These game status icons may indicate that asporting event has returned from a commercial break (e.g., a live actionnotification), is almost over (e.g., a time remaining notification),currently has exciting action taking place, or any other suitablecontent characteristic. Through these icons in the scoreboard, a usermay be presented with additional information about sporting events ofinterest.

In some embodiments, value-added features, such as sports wagering andfantasy leagues, are provided by the interactive sports watcherapplication. Users may be credited with electronic wagering points ordollars that may be redeemable for sports-related merchandise (e.g.,team clothing), on-demand content, sports package subscriptions, premiumchannels and services, or cash. Various incentives may be offered toencourage participation in the wagering and/or the fantasy leaguefeatures of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other features of the present invention, its nature andvarious advantages will be more apparent upon consideration of thefollowing detailed description, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, and in which:

FIG. 1 is an illustrative block diagram of a media system in accordancewith one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2A is an illustrative block diagram of the control circuitry shownin FIG. 1 in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2B shows illustrative tuner data tables in accordance with oneembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is an illustrative display screen with an interactive scoreboardin accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is an illustrative display screen with an interactive scoreboardand flip panel in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is an illustrative display screen with an interactive scoreboardand informational status icons in accordance with one embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 6 is an illustrative full-screen game information display screen inaccordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 is an illustrative sports watcher main menu display screen inaccordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 is another illustrative sports watcher main menu display screenin accordance with another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 9 is an illustrative display screen for searching forsports-related content and programming in accordance with one embodimentof the invention;

FIGS. 10-13 are illustrative display screens for setting user favoritesin accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 14 is an illustrative parental control display screen in accordancewith one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 15 is an illustrative display screen for wagering on sportingevents in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 16-21 are illustrative fantasy league display screens inaccordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 22 is an illustrative display screen for setting sports-relatedreminders in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 23 is an illustrative display screen for scheduling recordings inaccordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 24 is an illustrative display screen for scheduling categoryrecordings in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 25 is an illustrative display screen for viewing sports commentaryfrom a variety of difference sources in accordance with one embodimentof the invention;

FIGS. 26-28 show illustrative sports watcher setup display screens forcustomizing sports watcher features in accordance with one embodiment ofthe invention;

FIG. 29 shows an illustrative sports watcher preferences display screenin accordance with one embodiment of the invention; and

FIGS. 30, 31A, 31B, 32, and 33 are flow charts showing illustrativeprocesses for providing the enhanced sports watcher features andfunctionality in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The interactive sports watcher application described herein may beimplemented as a stand-alone application executing at least partially ona user equipment device, or the application may be implemented as amodule or mode of an existing interactive application. If implemented asa module or mode of an existing interactive application, such as aninteractive media guidance application, all the display screens,prompts, and overlays shown herein may be integrated with the displayscreens, prompts, and overlays of the existing application. For example,fonts, colors, and overall layouts may be changed from those depicted tobetter match the fonts, colors, and overall layouts of the alreadyexisting application. In addition, features of an existing interactivemedia guidance application (or any other interactive application) may beincorporated into the sports watcher application in order to provideadded flexibility and functionality without leaving the sports watcherapplication, if desired.

The interactive sports watcher application may monitor all media contentaccess requests, including television channel requests, Internet webpagerequests, requests for on-demand and pay-per-view content, and requestsfor locally-recorded content. The sports watcher application mayautomatically launch after a request for a sporting event orsports-related content is received or after such content is displayed.Alternatively, a user may manually launch the sports watcher applicationby issuing a suitable command to the user equipment device. For example,a user may press a button on a remote control to launch the sportswatcher application in some embodiments.

Although the terms “sporting event” and “sports-related content” aresometimes used interchangeably herein, both of these terms includecontent, such as television programming, on-demand movies, and Internetwebsites, that is accessible from a user equipment device and is relatedto, or affiliated with, a sport, sports team, or athlete. In addition totraditional television programming, these terms may include webpages,online discussion boards, chat rooms, web logs (blogs), interactivegames, and digital music. For example, in some embodiments, an onlinesports commentary or sports blog may be considered a sporting event orsports-related content by the interactive sports watcher application. Asanother example, sports-themed movies and sports news may also beconsidered sports-related content by the interactive sports watcherapplication. As described below, accessing this content mayautomatically launch the sports watcher application (and automaticallydisplay any of the sports watcher display screens described herein).

FIG. 1 shows illustrative interactive media system 100 that may be usedwith the sports watcher application in accordance with one embodiment ofthe invention. User equipment device 102 receives content in the form ofsignals from content source 130 and/or supplemental content source 120over communications paths 150 and 152, respectively. Any suitable numberof users may have one or more user equipment devices, such as userequipment 102, coupled to content source 130, data sources 140, andsupplemental content source 120. For the clarity of the figure, however,only a single user equipment device is shown. In addition, although inpractice there may be numerous instances of content source 130 andsupplemental content source 120, for clarity only one instance of eachsource has been shown in the example of FIG. 1.

Content source 130 may be any suitable source of media content, such as,for example, a cable system headend, satellite television distributionfacility, television broadcast facility, on-demand server (e.g.,video-on-demand (VOD) server), Internet or network media/web server, orany other suitable facility or system for originating or distributingpassive or interactive content to user equipment 102. Media content thatmay be provided by content source 130 to user equipment 102 includesbroadcast programming, VOD programming, digital music, news, interactiveapplications (e.g., interactive games), Internet resources and webservices (e.g., websites, newsgroups, and chat rooms), and any othercontent capable of being displayed by, presented to, recorded, orinteracted with, using user equipment 102.

Supplemental content source 120 may be any suitable content sourceconfigured to provide real-time sports scores and game summaryinformation, tournament brackets and tournament information, sportscommentary, athlete biographies, spread and wagering data, and any othersports-related information to user equipment 102. In some embodiments,this sports-related information is provided to user equipment 102 as aplurality of real-time data feeds. Each data feed may be individuallyaccessed or subscribed to by user equipment 102. For example, sportsscore and game status information may be included in one real-time datafeed, while sports commentary may be included in another feed. Thesporting events with associated data available from supplemental contentsource 120 may include events in progress or events that have recentlyended. In addition, supplemental content source 120 may includeinformation relating to sporting events not available for viewing inmedia system 100. For example, a non-televised game may neverthelesshave associated sports-related information available on supplementalcontent source 120.

Some or all of this sports-related information may be stored in database122 and provided to content source 130 or directly to user equipment 120over communications paths 154 and 152, respectively. Supplementalcontent source 120 may include any third-party application provider,data manager, content manager, content aggregator, or intermediatecontent provider. Supplemental content source 120 may also be contractedto provide enhanced parental control services on behalf of userequipment 102. For example, supplemental content source 120 may provideratings information for media types that traditionally are notassociated with ratings information. Supplemental content source 120 mayprovide sports news ratings, website ratings, interactive applicationand sports games ratings, as well as ratings information for any othertype of content accessible by user equipment 102. The ratingsinformation may be derived, at least in part, from government agenciesand public or private ratings bureaus (e.g., the TV Parental GuidelinesMonitoring Board, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), theMotion Picture Association of America (MPAA), and the EntertainmentSoftware Ratings Board (ESRB)).

Database 122 may also store network viewing statistics and editor picksof sporting events. By accessing network viewing statistics, userequipment 102 may determine which sporting events are currently beingwatched by a large number of viewers. This may be used as an indicationof the popularity of the sporting event. The sports watcher applicationmay then advertise these games to the user, as discussed in more detailwith regard to FIG. 5 below.

Database 122 may also store the interactive sports watcher applicationitself. Upon receiving a request from user equipment 102, supplementalcontent source 120 may transmit the interactive sports watcherapplication directly to user equipment 102 via communications path 152(or supplemental content source 120 may transmit the interactive contentcontrol application to content source 130 for transmission to userequipment 120, if desired). In one embodiment, the interactive sportswatcher application is a self-executing OpenCable Applications Platform(“OCAP”) application downloaded by middleware to user equipment 102.User equipment 102 (or a proxy acting on behalf of the user equipment)may periodically query supplemental content source 120 for applicationupdates, or supplemental content source 120 may push application updatesto user equipment 102 automatically as updates become available.Database 122 may also store data generated by the interactive sportswatcher application. By providing centralized storage of such data, itmay allow a user to access these features from multiple locations. Itmay also allow for collation of the data from multiple users. Datastored in database 122 may include user preferences, setup options,active and recent wagers, wager bank balances, wagering leader boards,sports reminders, sports recordings, sports parental controls,user-defined sports searches, fantasy sports teams and standings, or anyother suitable data.

Content source 130 and supplemental content source 120 may be configuredto transmit signals to user equipment 102 over any suitablecommunications paths 150 and 152 including, for example, a satellitepath, a fiber-optic path, a cable path, or any other suitable wired orwireless path. The signals may be transmitted as a broadcast, multicast,unicast, or any other suitable transmission stream. Content source 130may also include control circuitry 132 for performing operations on thesignals transmitted by content source 130, such as, for example,generating new signals or communicating with user equipment 102 toprovide on-demand functionality.

User equipment 102 may receive interactive application data from one ormore instances of data sources 140, content source 130, and supplementalcontent source 120. Data sources 140 may provide data for a particulartype of content or for a particular application running on userequipment 102. For example, one data source 142 may provide data for aninteractive media guidance application and another data source mayprovide data for interactive sports watcher application 106. In someembodiments, data sources 140 may provide data to the applicationsrunning on user equipment 102 using a client-server model. There may beone server per data source, one server for all sources, or, in someembodiments, a single server may communicate as a proxy between userequipment 102 and various data sources 140.

Content source 130, supplemental content source 120, and data sources140 are shown in FIG. 1 as separate elements. In practice, theirfunctionality may be combined into a single mechanism and provided froma single system at a single facility, or their functionality may beprovided by multiple systems at multiple facilities. For example,supplemental content source 120, content source 130, and data sources140 may be combined to provide broadcast television content andassociated broadcast television data, including ratings information,sports-related information, or other suitable information to userequipment 102.

User equipment 102 may include any equipment suitable for presentingmedia content to a user. For example, user equipment 102 may includecomputer equipment, such as a personal computer with a television card(PCTV) and/or Open Cable Unidirectional Receiver (OCUR). User equipment102 may also include television equipment such as a television andset-top box, a recording device, a video player, a user input device(e.g., remote control, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch pad, a touch screen,and/or a voice recognition/verification module) or any other devicesuitable for providing a complete, interactive experience. For example,user equipment 102 may include a DCT 2000, 2500, 5100, 6208 or 6412set-top box provided by Motorola, Inc.

In the example of FIG. 1, user equipment 102 includes control circuitry110, display device 104, interactive sports watcher application 106,recording device 112, and user input device 108, all of which may beimplemented as separate devices or as a single, integrated device. Inaddition to interactive sports watcher application 106, otherinteractive applications, such as an interactive media guidanceapplication, may be implemented on user equipment 102. In someembodiments, these interactive applications may, for example, direct atuner in control circuitry 110 to display, on display device 104, thecontent transmitted by content source 130 or supplemental content source120 over communications paths 150 and 152 and to provide interactiveapplication features.

Display device 104 may be any suitable device capable of presentinghuman-perceivable media, such as, for example, a television monitor,computer monitor, LCD display, video projection device, holographicprojector, or virtual reality simulator. Display device 104 may also beconfigured to provide audio and other sensory output.

Control circuitry 110 is adapted to receive user input from input device108, execute the instructions of interactive sports watcher application106, execute the instructions of any other interactive applications, anddirect display device 104 to display media content and interactiveapplication display screens and overlays. Control circuitry 110 mayinclude one or more tuners (e.g., analog or digital tuners), encodersand decoders (e.g., MPEG encoders and decoders), processors (e.g., MIPSand/or Motorola 68000 family processors), memory (e.g., RAM, ROM, flashmemory, and hard disks), communications circuitry (e.g., cable modem andATSC 256QAM receiver circuitry), input/output circuitry (e.g., graphicscircuitry), connections to the various devices of user equipment 102(e.g., recording device 112), and any other suitable components forproviding analog or digital television programming and supplementalsports-related information. In one embodiment, control circuitry 110 maybe included as part of one of the devices of user equipment 102 such as,for example, part of display 104 or any other device (e.g., a set-topbox, television, and/or video player).

Control circuitry 110 may be connected to recording device 112 forstoring data from data sources 140, content source 130, or supplementalcontent source 120. For example, recording device 112 may include one ormore digital video recorders (DVRs), hard disks, or any other storagemechanism. Control circuitry 110 may also be configured to execute theinstructions of interactive sports watcher application 106 from memory,which may include any type of storage or memory mechanism (e.g., RAM,ROM, hybrid types of memory, hard disks, and/or optical drives).

Although, in the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 1, interactive sportswatcher application 106 is internal to user equipment 102, interactivesports watcher application 106 may be implemented externally orpartially implemented externally to user equipment 102. For example,interactive sports watcher application 106 may be implemented atsupplemental content source 120 or content source 130 and may run usinga client-server or distributed architecture where some of theapplication is implemented locally on user equipment 102 in the form ofa client process and some of the application is implemented at a remotelocation in the form of a server process. Sports watcher application 106may also be implemented on any suitable server, computer equipment, orset-top box accessible by user equipment 102. In some embodiments,interactive sports watcher application 106 is integrated with anotherinteractive application or is implemented as a standalone application,subprocess, or class (e.g., in an OCAP environment). In one embodiment,interactive sports watcher application 106 is completely integratedwithin an interactive media guidance application running on userequipment 102. In this embodiment, the management and administrativefunctionality of interactive sports watcher application 106 may beinvoked directly by the interactive media guidance application or theunderlying operating system after some user input from input device 108.

In at least some embodiments, interactive sports watcher application 106is implemented in software. However, an implementation of softwareand/or hardware may be used in other embodiments. These arrangements aremerely illustrative. Other suitable techniques for implementinginteractive sports watcher application 106 may be used if desired.

Interactive sports watcher application 106 may use application data fromdata sources 140 to determine the type of content currently beingdisplayed on display device 104 or recorded on recording device 112. Forexample, media guidance application data, which may include genreinformation (e.g., sports, mystery, comedy) and subgenre information(e.g., football, baseball, or any other sport) about media contentaccessible within media system 100, may be accessed to determine whatcontent is sports-related as well as the type of sport. Although, insome embodiments, interactive sports watcher application 106 may consultthe genre data associated with media content to determine if mediacontent is sports-related, in other embodiments other methods may beused. For example, content titles and descriptions may be searched forkeywords (e.g., “baseball” or “Yankees”). Content matching the searchcriteria may be deemed sports-related for the purposes of interactivesports watcher application 106. Content available on specific channels(e.g., ESPN or the YES network) may also be deemed sports-related insome embodiments.

After sports-related content is displayed on user equipment 102, theuser equipment may automatically enter sports watcher mode and/orexecute the sports watcher application. Alternatively or additionally,the user may manually select to enter sports watcher mode. For example,the user may select a button on input device 108 to enter sports watchermode. After entering sports watcher mode, interactive sports watcherapplication 106 may automatically display any of the screens shown inFIGS. 3-29 below.

FIG. 2A shows illustrative control circuitry 110 in more detail. Controlcircuitry 110 may include one or more tuners 202, 204, 206, and 208.These tuners may be digital tuners, analog tuners, or a combination ofdigital and analog tuners. Control circuitry 110 may also includeprocessor 212, which may include one or more MIPS/RISC and/or Motorola68000 family processors. Graphics circuitry 210 may be used to decodevideo signals from tuners 202, 204, 206, and 208 and output the decodedvideo signals to one or more display devices, such as display device 104(FIG. 1). As is currently understood in the art, the output from morethan one tuner may be decoded and displayed simultaneously on a singledisplay screen if desired. For example, picture-in-picture (PIP) orpicture-on-picture (POP) modes may be implemented to allow for multiplevideo windows to be displayed simultaneously.

Graphics circuitry 210 may also include scaled video output circuitry toperform operations on the outputs of tuners 202, 204, 206, and 208. Forexample, PIP windows may be dynamically resized by the user inreal-time. In addition, graphics circuitry 210 may support theconversion from one output format or resolution to another output formator resolution. For example, a high-definition (HD) video output may beconverted to a standard-definition (SD) output and vice versa. A varietyof highly compressed video codecs, such as an H.264/MPEG-4 AVC codec,may also be used by graphics circuitry 210 to decode/encode additionalformats.

Control circuitry 110 may be configured to automatically buffer mediacontent tuned by one or more of tuners 202, 204, 206, and 208. Thiscontent may be buffered in memory 214, which may include RAM, ROM, harddisks, and hybrid types of memory. Each tuner may be associated with itsown buffer in memory 214. For example, the output of tuner 202 may bebuffered in a first buffer file and stored in memory 214. Similarly, theoutputs of tuners 204, 206, and 208 may also be buffered in one or moreseparate buffer files in memory 214. The buffer files may includereal-time buffers corresponding to a sliding window of time for eachtuner output. For example, in some embodiments, a 30-minute bufferwindow may be used. In other embodiments, a maximum buffer size is usedin addition to, or in lieu of, a buffer time window. The characteristicsof the buffer (e.g., buffer size, buffer window, and/or bufferresolution) may be dependent on the type of media content being bufferedas well as user preferences. For example, certain sports may be givenlarger (or longer) buffers than the buffers for other sports. Inaddition, tuner outputs may be transcoded and buffered in a format otherthan the format transmitted to the user equipment device. For example,graphics circuitry 210 may be configured to buffer high-definitioncontent in standard definition, depending on the type of sporting eventand user preferences. This may save space in memory 214 for the buffersof other tuners.

For example, a user's profile may determine which sports are buffered inhigh-definition, which sports are buffered in standard-definition, andwhich sports are buffered in H.264 format. The user's profile may alsoindicate the preferred length or size of the buffers. For example, auser may select to give football sporting events a 45-minute bufferwindow, while basketball events are buffered for only a 30-minutewindow.

As described above, an interactive media guidance application mayinclude a sports watcher mode, or the sports watcher application may bea separate module or application (both approaches are collectivelyreferred to herein as “sports watcher mode”). A user may enter thesports watcher mode to actively watch one or more sporting events. Thesports watcher mode may be optimized for the multi-tuner user equipmentdevices, such as a dual-tuner DVR, and for widescreen or normal aspectratio television. For example, in some embodiments, there may be alwaysN active sporting events or games, where N is the number of tuners inthe user equipment. One tuner may be designated as the primary gametuner (i.e., “primary tuner”). This tuner may not change or tune awaywhile the primary game is in progress. The primary game may be selectedbased on preferences of the user, and the user may change thesepreferences at any time. The other N−1 tuners may be tuned touser-selected secondary sporting events or games, but these tuners canalso be used to view other events, games, and programming. Any of the Ntuners can be in view, or more than one tuner can be in view withPIP/POP or split screen mode. Smart channel changing, or flipping, maybe enabled whereby if a user-selected channel can be brought up with atuner swap, no actual tune will take place. In this way, the primarysporting event or game may be always tuned, allowing for advancednavigation functionality, such as fast-forward, rewind, and slow motionreplay, using the real-time buffers described above.

FIG. 2B shows illustrative tuner data tables 220 and 230 in accordancewith one embodiment of the invention. In some embodiments, only onesporting event is designated as the primary sporting event at any giventime. One or more sporting events other than the primary sporting eventmay be designated as secondary sporting events. The user may change orswap primary and/or secondary sporting events at any time. In otherembodiments, however, each tuner within the user equipment is assigned aprimary sporting event. Each tuner may remain tuned to the tuner'sprimary sporting event whenever possible. If the user requests mediacontent that requires tuning away from a primary sporting event, thetuner currently tuned to the sporting event with the lowest user profilescore (or other priority designation) may be tuned to the requestedmedia content, and the newly tuned content may then be displayed to theuser. The other tuners may remain tuned on their respective primarygames.

In the example of FIG. 2B, tables 220 and 230 may be stored in memory214 of control circuitry 110 (FIG. 2A). Table 220 may associate eachtuner in tuner column 222 (e.g., all four tuners in the user equipmentdevice) with a primary sporting event or other sports-related content.The source identifier (e.g., channel identifier) of the primary sportingevent for the tuner may be included in primary source identifier column224. Table 230 may associate each sporting event available in the mediasystem with a user profile score. For example, source identifier column232 may include the source identifiers of all the sports-related mediacontent currently being broadcast (or otherwise available within themedia system, for example, via a VOD service). The type of content(e.g., sports-themed movie, game, sports news, or sports commentary) maybe listed in type column 234. Finally, profile score column 236 mayinclude the user profile score for the sports-related media content. Forexample, the user may define a number of sports viewing preferences orcriteria, such as the user's favorite sport or sports, favorite sportsteam or teams, favorite player or players, favorite venue or venues,favorite league or leagues, or any other suitable criteria, in theuser's profile. In some embodiments, the user may setup the user'sviewing preferences from a sports watcher options screen, such asdisplay screen 2900 of FIG. 29, which is described in more detail below.The user may optionally assign a weight to each criterion as well as arank for each entry within the criterion. For example, the user maydesignate the NY Yankees as the user's first favorite baseball team andthe NY Mets as the user's second favorite baseball team, and so on.

Using the weights assigned to each criterion and the rank assigned toeach entry within each criterion, a user profile score may be calculatedby the sports watcher application and assigned to each sporting event orsports-related content accessible by the user equipment. The userprofile score may be computed in accordance with:

$\begin{matrix}{{score} = {\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{N}\; {w_{i}r_{i}}}} & \left( {{EQ}\mspace{14mu} 1} \right)\end{matrix}$

where N is the total number of criteria defined in the user's profile(and applicable to the media content), w is the weight assigned to thecriterion, and r is the rank within the criterion. The profile score mayalso be scaled, if desired, so that, for example, all the scores have amaximum value of 100 (or any other convenient number). In general, thehigher the user profile score, the more user profile matches the mediacontent has and the more interested the user will be in the mediacontent. In addition to using the user profiles scores in column 236 todetermine a priority order for sports-related content, the sportswatcher application may also use the user profile scores toautomatically designate primary and/or secondary games. For example, asshown in table 220, the media content with the greatest user profilescore (i.e., “sourceid_2” in the example of FIG. 2B) may be assigned asthe primary event for tuner 1, the media content with the next greatestuser profile score (i.e., “sourceid_1” in the example of FIG. 2B) may beassigned as the primary event for tuner 2, and so on. In this way,tuners may be assigned a priority ranking. This ranking may determinethe order in which tuners are tuned away from their respective primarygame, as described in more detail below in regard to FIG. 31B.

Sports watcher mode may also include dual picture capability. The usermay select letterbox or standard aspect ratio, and may additionallyselect a single video, PIP (with location complementary to aninteractive scoreboard, described below in more detail with regard toFIG. 3), side by side view, or multiple video windows, in which case anyof the N tuners may be active. Audio may be played from the activewindow, and channel flipping may be relative to the active window. Videocontrols (e.g., pause, rewind, slow motion replay) may also be relativeto the active window.

Enhanced video controls may also be provided in some embodiments. Theenhanced controls may include all standard video controls (e.g., pause,multi-speed rewind/fast-forward, multi-speed slow forward/reverse, frameadvance/reverse, and live play). Sports-oriented additions may also beincluded, such as a user-configurable or sport-specific instant replaytime. For example, replay requests for football games may automaticallyreplay the last 15 seconds of play, while replay requests for basketballgames may automatically replay only the last 10 seconds of play. Replaysmay be automatically displayed in various user-selected orsystem-selected slow motion or accelerated speeds, if desired. Forexample, football may be replayed at ¾ normal speed while basketball maybe replayed at ½ normal speed, depending on user preferences. A user mayset replay times and speeds for specific sports in a sports watcheroptions display screen, such as display screen 2900 (FIG. 29).

Sports-oriented video controls may also include a turbo replay function.Turbo replay allows a user to hold a button (e.g., a “replay” button) onan input device, such as input device 108 (FIG. 1), to skip backcontinuously by a user-configurable amount of time (for example, 0.5seconds). The user may then release the button to replay the portion ofplay from the desired location. The user may also select toautomatically repeat or loop the selected replay portion at normal,slow, or increased speeds while the replay button is pressed. To allowfor greater flexibility, a user may also use a mark/nudge/loop functionwhereby a user may mark a spot in a video using the replay/slow/pausebuttons on an input device, such as input device 108 (FIG. 1), and thennudge the marked location using the arrow or cursor buttons. A nudgetimeline may be displayed for use with the mark/nudge/loop function insome embodiments. By nudging the marked location, the user may set thestart and end positions of the replay window relative to the markedlocation. The user may then replay the replay window repeatedly atregular, slow, or increased speeds.

In some embodiments, the sports watcher mode may include an interactivescoreboard feature. Display screen 300 of FIG. 3 shows interactivescoreboard 302 in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.Interactive scoreboard 302 is a sports scoreboard that is available insports watcher mode. It may be displayed and dismissed with a singlekeystroke or button press on an input device, such as input device 108(FIG. 1). Interactive scoreboard 302 may include a number of passive andinteractive features. For example, interactive scoreboard 302 may beautomatically displayed when sports watcher mode is entered or it may beautomatically displayed when the user requests or accessessports-related programming (e.g., a sporting event). Althoughinteractive scoreboard 302 may be displayed and dismissed with a singlekeystroke, in some embodiments it may not time out and may persist untilmanually dismissed by the user. Interactive scoreboard 302 may include alist of currently tuned sporting events and games, such as scoreboardentries 304 and 306. Icon 310 may indicate that the game associated withthe score listed next to icon 310 is viewable in an active or mainwindow (e.g., in the foreground area of main window 320). Icon 310 mayalso indicate that the game associate with the score listed next to icon310 is viewable somewhere on the current display screen (e.g., in a PIPor POP window). Interactive scoreboard 302 may also include scrollablelist 308 of other sports scores. The scores displayed in scrollable list308 may include scores of one or more of currently televised games,non-televised games, and games that have recently ended (e.g., gamesthat have ended earlier in the day or within a 24-hour period). The usermay press left or right arrow keys on an input device, such as inputdevice 108 (FIG. 1), to manually scroll through additional sports scoresin scrollable list 308.

Interactive scoreboard 302 may be displayed as an overlay on main window320, which may be currently displaying sports programming. As shown inthe example of FIG. 3, interactive scoreboard 302 may occupyapproximately 1/9 of one corner of display screen 300. As described inmore detail with regard to FIG. 28 below, interactive scoreboard 302 mayalso be dynamically resized and/or repositioned as desired by the user.Although interactive scoreboard 302 takes a square or rectangular shapein the example of FIG. 3, interactive scoreboard 302 may also runhorizontally or vertically across the entire width or length of displayscreen 300 in a banner or sports ticker format in other embodiments. Ahighlight cursor may surround one of scoreboard entries 304 and 306 orscrollable list 308 to indicate which scoreboard element is currentlyselected by the user. In some embodiments, the font size and/or fontcolor of the highlighted element may change to further indicate whichscoreboard element is selected.

In some embodiments, scrollable list 308 may scroll through the scoresof a plurality of different games automatically without any user input.Each score in scrollable list 308 may be flashed for a user-configurableamount of time, or the games may be displayed in a scrolling fashion,whereby the score enters scrollable list 308 from right to left or leftto right and is scrolled out after a user-configurable amount of time. Auser may also select a predefined subset of all the available sportsscores for display in scrollable list 308. For example, the user may setpreferences in the user's profile to include only scores of a certainsport, a certain league, or a certain tournament in scrollable list 308.The user may also indicate one or more custom subsets of scores fordisplay in scrollable list 308. For example, the user may wish to seescores of his or her favorite teams, leagues, or sports. Thisinformation may be saved to a user profile and used to select whichscores are displayed in scrollable list 308. As such, scoreboard 302 mayoffer users a method to customize which scores are included or excludedin the display (e.g., football and baseball games, but not basketballgames). In some embodiments, games may be ranked based on userpreferences for multiple attributes (e.g., sport, team, venue, league,tournament, etc.). In such embodiments, inclusion on the scoreboard (andorder) may be determined based on the calculated rank. Games that arecurrently tuned or which have been recently tuned may be included in thescoreboard even if their ranks would not otherwise cause them to beincluded. The data for use by scoreboard 302 (e.g., the scores and anyrelated game summary information) may be accessed from one or morereal-time data feeds received from any suitable content or data source(e.g., content source 130, supplemental content source 120, or datasources 140 (all of FIG. 1)).

In some embodiments, scoreboard 302 may be adjusted to include more orless information about each game. In addition to real-time scores, theinformation displayed in scoreboard 302 may include channel names,channel numbers, team names, clock time, time remaining, performance ofspecific players in the game (e.g., configured in such a manner thatonly select players' statistics are displayed, thus becoming a fantasyteam tracking feature), other current status and game summaryinformation from real-time data feeds, sports news information that isnot related to any specific game, or any other suitable information.Depending on the size and location of scoreboard 302, this additionalinformation may be displayed within each scoreboard entry (e.g., next tothe appropriate score), above or below the scores, or at any othersuitable location within scoreboard 302. This information may also bedisplayed in a separate window from scoreboard 302, if desired. In someembodiments, when a user highlights or selects a score in scoreboard 302that is associated with a game that is currently tuned, the interactivemedia guidance application may automatically swap the display to thattuner. If the user highlights or selects a score associated with a gamethat is available but not currently tuned, the interactive mediaguidance application may tune that game on an available tuner. The tunerused to tune the selected game may be the tuner with the lowest priorityso that the user's primary game or games remain tuned whenever possible.

As shown in display screen 400 of FIG. 4, the user may highlight a scorein scoreboard 302 and press an “Info” button on an input device, such asinput device 108 (FIG. 1), to view a game information screen or bannerfor the game associated with the selected score. In the example of FIG.4, banner 402 displays more detailed game information, including timeremaining, quarter, down, yards remaining to first down, field location,and summary information for the Seattle at Pittsburgh football gamehighlighted in scoreboard 302. Banner 402 may also display the channelnumber and call letters that the game is currently being broadcast on.The amount and type of information displayed in flip banner 402 may becustomized via a user preferences screen, such as sports watcher optionsdisplay screen 2900 (FIG. 29), which is described in more detail below.

Scoreboard 302 may also include television icon 404 next to one or moreof the scores listed in scoreboard 302. Television icon 404 may indicatethat the game associated with the score is currently available on atleast one television channel accessible by the user equipment device.Similar to icon 310 (FIG. 3), television icon 404 (FIG. 4) provides moreinformation to the user in a convenient, highly-visible way. If the userwishes to tune a different game on a foreground or background tuner, theuser may select any score in scoreboard 302 that shows television icon404 (FIG. 4) to automatically tune the game associated with the selectedscore. Icon 310 may then be displayed adjacent to the selected score,indicating that this game is now tuned in the active window. In someembodiments, a tuned icon (not shown) may be used to indicate that thegame is tuned by a tuner other then the tuner being shown in the activewindow. More than one instance of tuned icon may appear in scoreboard302 if the user equipment device includes more than one tuner. In someembodiments, the order in which games are shown on the scoreboard mayreflect the priority of the games. For example, the top game on thescoreboard may be for the primary game, and the second game on thescoreboard may be for the secondary game with the highest priority.Games that are not currently tuned may be included in scrollable list308.

For traditional analog television systems, tuned content may includecontent acquired or locked from a particular channel carrier frequency.For digital television systems, tuned content may include contentdemodulated from a digital carrier frequency, content FEC decoded fromthe demodulated transport stream (TS), content demultiplexed from thetransport stream, and/or content extracted from a particular packetidentifier (PID) stream. This digital content may be received by theuser equipment device over a number of switched digital televisionchannels. For IPTV, tuned content may include content to be delivered ona particular network address (e.g., multicast address) on which an IPsocket is currently joined.

As mentioned above, one feature of the sports watcher application ismore efficient sports tuning, especially in dual-tuner or multi-tunersystems. In the example of FIG. 4, scoreboard 302 lists the Seattle atPittsburgh score in position 1 (e.g., the top row) of scoreboard 302 andthe ASU at USC football game in position 2 (e.g., the second row) ofscoreboard 302. The game associated with the score in position 1 ofscoreboard 302 may be designated as the user's primary game. The gameassociated with the score in position 2 of scoreboard 302 may bedesignated as the user's secondary game (for example, in user equipmentwith two tuners). A user may set or switch the primary game at any time.The sports watcher application may keep the sporting event designated asthe primary game tuned whenever possible. For example, if a userrequests media content (e.g., by changing channels), the tuner tuned tothe primary sporting event may persist on the primary sporting eventwhile another available tuner tunes to the requested media content. Inthis way, channel changing or flipping may be generally performed on asecondary tuner (i.e., a tuner other than the tuner that is currentlytuned to the primary sporting event), so that the primary tuner canremain tuned on the primary sporting event. Flipping to the primarysporting event may perform a tuner output swap (i.e., display the outputfrom the tuner already tuned to the primary sporting event) rather thana new tune. Flipping from the primary sporting event may perform a tuneroutput swap first, and then a tune, if required.

In some embodiments, a sport pilot feature may allow the sports watcherapplication to automatically designate particular sporting events asprimary and/or secondary sporting events. In this way, the mostpertinent game or games that are active at the moment may beautomatically tuned without the user requesting that the game or gamesbe tuned. For example, network access or network usage statistics may bereceived by the user equipment device from a network usage monitoringservice. The network statistics may be used to determine which games arepopular within the entire network or some subset of the entire network(e.g., the local geographic region in which the user equipment device iscurrently located). In some embodiments, the geographic location of theuser equipment device may be derived from the user equipment device'snetwork address (e.g., IP address) or a multicast address of a localcable headend that the user equipment device is subscribed to. The userequipment device may use the received network statistics along with userprofile or preference information to automatically designate one or moresporting events as primary and/or secondary events. Some weightedfunction (e.g., taking into account both network activity and userpreferences) may be used to determine which events qualify as primaryand/or secondary events. The weighted function may be similar to EQ 1,described above, which may be used to calculate user profile scores forsports content. Network access or usage statistics may represent onecriterion in EQ 1.

In addition to, or in lieu of, receiving network statistics, systemselections of primary and/or secondary sporting events may beautomatically received by the user equipment device in some embodiments.The system selections may include events with high network accessrequests in a local geographic region or throughout the entire mediasystem or network. Primary sporting events may also be selected by oneor more sports editors. For example, an artificial intelligent agent,live agent, or other editor (e.g., at the headend or the productionfacility) may monitor all sporting events currently in progress anddesignate popular games, high action games, high excitement games, orgames that might be of interest to the user as primary sporting events.An indication of the designated primary sporting events may then beprovided to user equipment 102 (FIG. 1) in the form of a primarysporting event flag. For example, a game that has a tie score with twominutes left or a game where a high number of points are being scoredcould be flagged as more interesting than a shut-out or a low scoringgame. User equipment 102 (FIG. 1) may automatically designate a sportingevent, based on the editor-selected events and user viewing preferences,as the primary sporting event (and optionally automatically tune aforeground or background tuner to the event).

In some embodiments, historical information related to a match-up isalso made available. For example, in a text-oriented addition, scores,statistics, player differences, etc., can be provided of prior match-upsbetween the two teams featured in the game or games currently beingdisplayed on the user equipment device. This match-up information maythen be displayed in the display screen simultaneously with the sportingevent. As another example, the prior match-ups between these teams orhighlights of those match-ups can be provided via a VOD service for thegame or games currently being displayed on the user equipment device.This prior match-up information may be accessible from the gameinformation screen (e.g., display screen 600 of FIG. 6), if desired.

Primary sporting events may also be automatically selected by the sportswatcher application itself. For example, the sports watcher applicationmay monitor one or more real-time data feeds and designate games, forexample, that are on the verge of scoring opportunities, almost over, orhave players approaching statistical milestones (e.g., 400 yard passeror 1,000 yard rusher), as primary games. In some embodiments, a primarygame flag may be included in media guidance application data associatedwith sporting events and other sports-related media content that aredesignated as primary sporting events. This allows for virtually anycriterion or combination of criteria (user-selected, editor-selected, orapplication-selected) to be used to select and designate primary games.The sports watcher application may parse the media guidance applicationdata for primary game flags and compile a list of games that are primarygame candidates. From the candidate list, the sports watcher applicationmay select and designate one or more primary games based on userpreferences or profile information. In some embodiments, after enteringsports watcher mode, the primary games may be automatically tuned by oneor more tuners in the user equipment device. The scores of these gamesmay also be displayed in an interactive scoreboard, such as scoreboard302. For example, if the user equipment device includes three tuners,three games may be selected and tuned automatically after sports mode isentered.

The sports watcher application may also support intelligent channelchanging, or flipping. Channel changing may change the video in theactive window. The active window may be the main window, PIP window, POPwindow, or either side window. In some embodiments, the active window issurrounded by a cell or region highlight to visually distinguish theactive window from other windows in display screen 400. The channelup/down buttons on an input device, such as input device 108 (FIG. 1),may change channels relative to the channel of the active window. Asdescribed above, channel changing may swap tuners (if the requestedcontent is already tuned) or tune one of the secondary tuners.

In some embodiments, an all-sports channel flipping function may bedefined, whereby flipping is constrained to channels currently showingsporting events or sports-related programming. Other channels may beautomatically skipped in the flipping sequence. The sports watcherapplication may maintain a list or table of channels currently showingsports programs in memory. This list or table may be derived from mediaguidance application data transmitted to the user equipment device. Thismedia guidance application data may include genre (e.g., “sports”) andsubgenre (e.g., “football”) information about all channels currentlyaccessible by the user equipment device. The all-sports flippingfunction may include in the channel line-up one or more of all channelsshowing sporting events, all channels showing any sports-relatedprogramming (sporting events, sports commentary, sports news,sports-themed movies, etc.), or all channels showing sporting events ofa particular type of sport (e.g., football). The channels included inthe all-sports channel flipping function may be set using sports watcheroptions display screen 2900 (FIG. 29), which is described in more detailbelow.

Using the all-sports flipping function, the interactive media guidanceapplication may also automatically scan through the all-sports channellineup. Each channel in the lineup may be displayed for a predeterminedor user-configurable amount of time before the next channel in thelineup is displayed. The channels may be displayed in any order, forexample, by channel number (low to high or high to low), by profilescore (low to high or high to low), or by priority (low to high or highto low).

A favorites flipping function may also be defined in some embodiments,whereby only channels showing media content that matches the user'sfavorites (as determined by the user profile or user favorites list) aretuned in the flipping sequence. Other channels may be automaticallyskipped. The favorites flipping function and the all-sports flippingfunction may also be combined in some embodiments, so that only channelsshowing content that matches the user's favorites and the user'sall-sports flipping options are included in the channel line-up. Allother channels may be automatically skipped.

In some embodiments, an interactive listing of the channels included inthe all-sports and/or favorites flipping functions may be displayed onthe screen in a scrollable overlay. The interactive listing may also bedisplayed in a PIP/POP window anywhere on the screen. A user maynavigate a cursor within the interactive listing and select one or moreentries in the listing. After selecting one or more entries in thelisting, a media guidance application function may be automaticallyinvoked. For example, the selected channel or channels may beautomatically tuned and displayed in the main window, added to theuser's favorites, scheduled for recording, added to an alert list, or areminder may be set. The user may select to reorder the interactivelisting by channel name, channel number, title, time started, or sport.In this way, the user may have access to a complete list of the channelscurrently showing sporting events. By reordering the interactive listingby sport, the user may view a list of all the channels currently showinga particular type of sport (e.g., baseball) in a convenient on-screenoverlay without entering the main guidance application screen or tuningaway from media content currently being displayed on the display screen.

In some embodiments, scoreboard 302 may be moved to different screenpositions to support avoidance of different on-screen displays,overlays, and windows. For example, scoreboard 302 may be dynamicallymoved to another area of the screen or reduced/enlarged in size inresponse to another overlay, window (e.g., PIP/POP window), or promptbeing displayed. Scoreboard 302 may also be made into a ticker (e.g.,displayed horizontally across the bottom of the screen or displayedvertically across the side of the screen). Such a ticker may be somewhattranslucently overlaid, partially blocking a portion of the video, maybe opaquely overlaid, fully blocking a portion of the video, or thevideo portion may be squeezed in such a way that the ticker can coexistwithout overlap with the video, and without either the ticker or thevideo interfering with each other.

As previously mentioned, the scores listed in scoreboard 302 may includescores of games that are currently airing and of interest to the user.After entering sports watcher mode, a real-time data feed includingsports scores of a plurality of sporting events may be received by theuser equipment device. The scores selected for inclusion in scoreboard302 may be based on user sports preferences previously stored. The usermay modify the list at any time while sports watcher mode is active. Thelist may include several games; however, as previously described, thefirst two positions in scoreboard 302 may be special. For example, thefirst position may display the score of the primary game. This game isassigned to a primary tuner and generally the tuner may not be tunedaway from the primary game. The second position in scoreboard 302 may bethe secondary game. It is assigned to the second tuner, but the tunermay be tuned to another game in the list. Tuned games are automaticallybuffered in real-time on the user equipment device to support standardand advanced video controls, such as rewind, pause, instant replay, slowmotion replay, etc.

The user may highlight any score in scoreboard 302 using an inputdevice, such as input device 108 (FIG. 1), and immediately tune to thegame associated with the selected score or perform any available mediaguidance function on the game associated with the selected score. If thegame is already tuned on one of the tuners in the user equipment device,no tune may actually take place. Rather, the output of the tuner alreadytuned to the sporting event is displayed (i.e., a tuner swap) or madeactive. While sports watcher mode is active, flipping through channelsvia the “Favorites” key may be constrained to the games associated withscores in scoreboard 302. The scores displayed in scoreboard 302 mayupdate automatically as games start and end. In some embodiments, scoresmay remain in scoreboard 302 for some time after the game associatedwith the score has ended.

In a typical usage scenario, when a user presses the “OK” key while anyscoreboard entry is highlighted, if the game associated with thehighlighted score is on television but not tuned, the selected game maybe tuned using a secondary tuner, and the game may be brought intoforeground view. If the selected game is already tuned on a background(e.g., secondary) tuner, the game may be brought to foreground view. Ifthe user is in PIP or POP mode, the selected game may be made the activevideo window. A flip banner, such as flip banner 402, may beautomatically displayed with detailed game information after a newsporting event is tuned, brought into foreground view, or designated anactive window. The flip banner may time out after some predeterminedamount of time.

FIG. 5 shows display screen 500 with enhanced game status icons ininteractive scoreboard 302. Display screen 500 may be similar to displayscreen 400 (FIG. 4). In the example of FIG. 5, scoreboard 302 includesgame status icons 502 and 504. Game status icon 502, which in someembodiments may resemble a lightning bolt, may be positioned adjacent toany of the entries in scoreboard 302, including scrollable list 308. Thesports watcher application may display icon 502 next to a scoreassociated with a sporting event that has resumed play or is back from acommercial break. In a typical usage scenario, a user may access anothersporting event after the primary event goes to commercial by selectinganother score listed in scoreboard 302. Even though the game may not becurrently viewable in display screen 500, the sports watcher applicationmay monitor a real-time data feed for one or more game status flags.These status flags may indicate any suitable characteristics about thesporting events associated with scores displayed in scoreboard 302. Forexample, the status flags may indicate that the game has resumed play,is back from commercial, has gone to commercial, the current clock time,or any other suitable game status information. Using these status flags,the sports watcher application may display appropriate game statusicons, such as icon 502 and 504 within scoreboard 302. These iconsprovide additional information to the user about games associated withscores displayed in scoreboard 302. Game status icons may be associatedwith any score in any position within scoreboard 302, including scoresin scrollable list 308.

Game status icons may be displayed near other icons within thescoreboard. Each entry in scoreboard 302 may be associated with zero,one, or more icons. For example, game status icons 502 and/or 504 may bepositioned near icon 310 (FIG. 3), icon 404 (FIG. 4), or any othersuitable icons described herein. Multiple icons adjacent to the sameentry in scoreboard 302 may indicate that all the icons are applicableto the given scoreboard entry. For example, if, in the example of FIG.5, the Seattle at Pittsburgh game was currently displayed in the activewindow, tuned on a tuner within the user equipment device, and back fromcommercial, all three icons may be displayed next to the appropriateentry in scoreboard 302.

Action icon 504 is a special type of game status icon. Action icon 504,which may resemble an exclamation point in some embodiments, indicatesthat exciting action is currently taking place in the game associatedwith the score that action icon 504 is displayed adjacent to. Forexample, action icon 504 may be displayed when there is a scoring drive,rally, or any other suitable event of interest currently occurring inthe game associated with the score. In the example of FIG. 5, actionicon 504 is presented as a time remaining warning, indicating that lessthan two minutes of clock time is remaining in the fourth quarter of thefootball game. Time remaining indicator 506 may display the currentquarter and clock time remaining. This information may be received fromthe same real-time data feed as the game status information, or thisinformation may be received from another real-time data feed. As shownin display screen 500, time remaining indicator 506 may be displayedwithin a scoreboard entry or adjacent to a scoreboard entry.

Although FIGS. 3-5 show some of the most common icons that may beassociated with scores displayed in scoreboard 302, other icons may alsobe defined and displayed within the scoreboard at the appropriate times.For example, as described above, when certain milestones are about to bereached by a team or a particular player on a team, a milestone icon maybe displayed in the scoreboard. In general, a user may choose whichicons the user would like to appear in the scoreboard using a sportswatcher options display screen, such as display screen 2900 of FIG. 29.

Pressing the “Info” key on any scoreboard entry may cause a flip banner,such as flip banner 402 (FIG. 4), for that entry to be displayed if notalready displayed (even if the game is not tuned). Full-screen gameinformation may also be displayed if the flip banner is alreadydisplayed for that game, as shown in game information display screen 600of FIG. 6. The flip banner or full-screen game information 604 may beco-located on the screen with scoreboard 302 and available for any gameon scoreboard 302, including games not on television. Alternatively,scoreboard 302 may be removed from the display and the game itself maybe displayed in picture-in-guide (PIG) window 602. A supplemental datasource (e.g., supplemental content source 120 of FIG. 1) may be accessedto retrieve information for games not broadcast on television. The flipbanner or full-screen game information 604 may also include additionallive update data that is not shown on scoreboard 302. As shown indisplay screen 600, full-screen game information 604 may feature ascrollable description, live score and status updates, point spread,money line, and other wagering information, and other game-specificinformation.

Display screen 600 may also include a number of game-specific options ina game menu. The game specific options may include watch option 608.Watch option 608 may change depending on the status of the game. Forexample, if the game is on television but not tuned, selecting watchoption 608 may tune the game using a secondary tuner and bring it toforeground view (i.e., makes the game the active window). If the game istuned in the background, selecting watch option 608 may bring it toforeground view. If the game is in the foreground on a secondary tuner,the label of watch option 608 may change to “Make Primary Game.”Selecting watch option 608 after the label has changed to “Make PrimaryGame” may designate the game as the user's primary game. If appropriate,the label of watch option 608 may also change to “Watch Pregame” or“Watch Postgame” if the game has ended or not yet started (and postgameor pregame content is available). Pregame and postgame video may beavailable from the same channel the game is to be broadcast on, or wasbroadcast on, or from a supplemental content source, such assupplemental content source 120 (FIG. 1). If the selected game is not ontelevision, but the same team is playing, the label of watch option 608may change to “Watch [team name].” In this case, after selecting watchoption 608, a listing of available games (e.g., both prerecorded andlive games) featuring the team or teams in the game the user requestedmore information about may be displayed to the user. The user may thenselect any game from the listing to watch the selected game.

The user may also set game reminders using reminders option 610.Reminders may be set for specific games, or any of a specific game'scategories (e.g., sport, league, event, or team). Reminders oncategories may result in any game with a matching category designationto automatically receive a reminder. Standard reminders may be createdthat will appear whether sports watcher mode, the interactive mediaguidance application, or any other application is active. Reminders arediscussed in more detail below with regard to display screen 2200 (FIG.22), which shows an example game reminder screen.

A recordings page may also be accessed from the game information screen,such as display screen 600. After selecting recordings option 612, oneor more display screens may be presented to the user that allow forrecordings to be scheduled for specific games. Recordings may also bescheduled for any of a game's categories (e.g., sport, league, event, orteam). Schedule a category for recording may result in any game withsame category designation to be automatically recorded (or scheduled forrecording). Standard recording options may also be available that arepresent whether sports watcher mode, the interactive media guidanceapplication, or any other application is active. Recordings arediscussed in more detail with regard to display screens 2300 (FIG. 23)and 2400 (FIG. 24) below.

Game commentary may also be accessed from the game information screen,such as display screen 600. After selecting commentary option 614, theuser may access multiple sources of additional information about thegame, including recommendations, analysis and predictions, and odds andspreads. Game commentary may also feature scrollable text and mayinclude images and links to video clips. Game commentary is discussed inmore detail below with regard to display screen 2500 (FIG. 25), whichshows an illustrative game commentary screen.

The sports watcher application may also provide comprehensive wageringsupport. A user may access a wagering interface from the gameinformation screen by selecting wagering option 616. After selectingwagering option 616, a wagering interface, such as display screen 1500(FIG. 15), may be displayed to the user. The wagering interface may becustomized to the currently selected game. For example, after the userselects wagering option 616, a custom wagering interface for the Detroitat Colorado game may be displayed. This interface may allow the user towager on the game, to modify a previous wager on the game, or to view awager previously made on the game, including any results. Wageringfunctionality is described in more detail below with regard to FIG. 15.

To set or view user favorites, the user may select favorites option 618.Favorites may be set for specific game, or any of a game's categories(e.g., sport, league, event, or team). For example, display screen 1100(FIG. 11) may be displayed after a user selects favorites option 618.Favorites are described in more detail below with regard to FIG. 11.

Sports-related parental control features may also be supported in someembodiments. After the user selects lock option 620, a parental controldisplay screen, such as display screen 1400 (FIG. 14), may be displayed.From the parental control display screen, the user may create, remove,or modify parental control locks for the game, any of the game'scategories (e.g., sport, league, event, tournament, or team), or thechannel the game is being broadcast on. Locks may be set by sport (e.g.,lock “Auto Racing”), and may be enforced during regular (i.e.,non-sports) television watching even if the sports watcher applicationor interactive media guidance application is not currently active.Alternately, locks may be enforced only while the sports watcherapplication is active and running. Parental control locks are describedin more detail below with regard to FIG. 14.

Information shown on the game information screen, such as display screen600 (FIG. 6), may also include all or a part of the information from themedia guidance application program database (if applicable), score andother information from the live data feed (for current or recent games),odds, point spreads, or other wagering information, advance or real-timecommentary, and any other suitable information. A textual game summarymay also be provided as an option. In some embodiments, a video summarymay be provided via VOD or some other mechanism. This video summary mayinclude a half-time highlights reel or key plays video, for example. Thetext game summary may be configured to not only display to the user ontelevision, but to also send the summaries as an e-mail, text message,or Instant Message (IM) to a cellular telephone, PDA, or other mobiledevice. Audio highlights may also be generated as a result and sent asvoice mails to home or mobile phone voice mailboxes. To return to themain display screen, such as display screen 500 (FIG. 5), the user mayselect back option 606.

As shown in display screen 700 of FIG. 7, a user may access a sportswatcher quick menu, such as Quick Menu 702, when the sports watcherapplication is active. In some embodiments, the user may press a “Menu”button on an input device, such as input device 108 (FIG. 1) in order todisplay Quick Menu 702. Quick Menu 702 may be displayed as an overlaywhile video content is being watched in the background. Quick Menu 702may include a number of sports-specific functions and features. Thesefeatures and functions may include the most commonly accessed featuresand functions of the sports watcher application.

For example, the user may select “TV Guide” option 712, which displaysthe interactive media guidance application main menu, allowing theviewer access to non-sports functions. The user may select Search option704 to access a set of search screens that can be used to find sportsprogramming. For example, after selecting search option 704, displayscreen 900 (FIG. 9) may be displayed to the user. The user may selectfavorites option 706 to set specific sports, leagues, teams, andtournaments as favorites. After selecting favorites option 706, displayscreen 1000 (FIG. 10) or 1100 (FIG. 11) may be displayed to the user.The user may select wagering option 708 to access a wagering interface.For example, display screen 1500 (FIG. 15) may be displayed after a userselects wagering option 708.

To access fantasy league functions, the user may select fantasy option710. After selecting fantasy option 710, display screen 1600 (FIG. 16)or 1700 (FIG. 17) may be displayed to the user. Through these screens, auser may create or join a private or public fantasy sports league, asdescribed in more detail with regard to FIGS. 16 and 17. The user maycustomize many of the sports watcher features via setup option 714. Forexample, after selecting setup option 714, display screen 2600 (FIG. 26)may be displayed to the user. To exit sports watcher mode or terminatethe sports watcher application, the user may select exit sports watcheroption 716. After selecting exit sports watcher option 716, the user maybe presented with a traditional media guidance application displayscreen.

Although, in the example of FIG. 7, Quick Menu 702 is arrangedvertically in display screen 700, the quick menu may be displayed inother layout arrangements in other embodiments of the invention. Forexample, FIG. 8 shows display screen 800 with Quick Menu 802. Quick Menu802 is arranged horizontally in the flip bar region at the bottom ofdisplay screen 800. Option buttons 810 may include all the options shownin display screen 700 of FIG. 7. In some embodiments, Quick Menu 802 mayalso be an undocked overlay window that the user may reposition and/orresize using an input device, such as input device 108 (FIG. 1). Forexample, the user may select and drag Quick Menu 802 up from the bottomof display screen 800 to convert the menu into an undocked overlaywindow. The user may then move the overlay window about the screen so asto obstruct less of the video being presented in the main window.

Display screen 800 includes interactive scoreboard 804, which mayinclude all the features of interactive scoreboard 302 (FIG. 7). Forexample, any of the aforementioned scoreboard icons, alerts, and relatedinformation may be displayed in or near interactive scoreboard 804.Tuner icons 806 and 808 may indicate that the games associated withthese scores are currently tuned by tuners in the user equipment device.As shown in the example of FIG. 8, tuner icons 806 and 808 may bevisually distinguishable from one another. For example, icon 806 mayinclude the number 1 as part of the icon to indicate that this game istuned on the primary tuner. Similarly, icon 808 may include the number 2as part of the icon to indicate that this game is tuned on a secondarytuner. The user may swap the priority of the tuners (or the contenttuned by the tuners) at any time. In this way, a user may reprioritizesporting events (and designate primary and/or secondary games) directlyfrom scoreboard 804. If more than two tuners are present in the userequipment device, scoreboard 804 may be expanded accordingly, ifdesired, to include more rows and more tuned games with tuner icons.

FIG. 9 shows display screen 900 used to search for sports-related mediacontent. Media content searching may be facilitated by sports searchmenu 902. Search menu 902 may provide access to listings of onlysporting events and sports-related programming (e.g., sports news,highlights, and commentary). The search and listing screens may bedesigned to be identical or very close to the traditional interactivemedia guidance application search screens. A user may select any gamefrom a search results listing to view detailed game information in agame information display screen, such as display screen 600 (FIG. 6).The user may also perform any media guidance function on a game listedin a search results display screen.

Illustrative search options may include all sports option 904. Thisoption may search for all sports-related programming on any channel atany time, sorted by time. Favorites option 906 may only search games inthe user's favorites list or games with positive ratings (as describedin more detail below), sorted by ranking. Search by sport option 908 mayallow the user to drill down by category and see a listing of games andother sports-related programming by category (e.g., sport, team, orleague). Search by title/keyword option 910 may allow the user to entera text string and see all games with matching media guidance applicationdata (e.g., title, description, summary, or genre information). Localgames option 912 allows the user to access a list of all games includingat least one team from a local market (professional, college, highschool, etc.). An option may be provided to select alternate locations,if desired. By selecting popular option 914, a list of the most populargames or game recommendations may be presented to the user. Therecommendations may be selected by an expert or editor. Non-games option916 allows the user to search all sports-related content other thangames (e.g., highlights, commentary, news updates, interviews, andsport-themed movies). Finally, sports packages option 918 allows theuser to search sports packages offered by the cable operator. Afterselecting sports packages option 918, all packages may be listed, oronly those including games matching the user's preferences may belisted. A user may view a list of currently scheduled games in apackage, purchase the package, automatically set all package contents asfavorites, and/or automatically set an automatic reminder for allpackage contents.

FIG. 10 shows display screen 1000 with a user's favorites searchresults. In the example of FIG. 10, the user performed a search ofcategory 1003 within the user's favorites. The category matches arelisted in display screen 1000 with the relevant number of matches ineach category. In this way, the user may focus the search by selectingany displayed category. After selecting a displayed category, a list ofmatches within that category may be displayed. For example, category1002, MLB, includes two matches in the user's favorites. Numberindicator 1004 indicates the number of content matches. Selectingcategory 1002 may either drill down one level to a more detailedsub-category or display a list of the matching games or content.

In some embodiments, selection of list favorites option 906 from sportssearch menu 900 (FIG. 9) may list all sports programming matching theuser's preferences, or those exceeding a ranking threshold. Favoritesports programming may be sorted by rank, by time, by sport, or anyother suitable criteria. In some embodiments, a screen similar todisplay screen 1000 may be presented in response to the user selectingsearch by sport option 908 from sports search menu 900 (FIG. 9). Inthese embodiments, number indicator 1004 may indicate the count of allsports programs within category 1002 or it may indicate the number ofsubcategories available within category 1002. Selecting a category mayeither list all programming within that category or the subcategories ofthat category.

In some embodiments, a screen similar to display screen 1000 may bepresented in response to the user selecting favorites option 706 fromsports watcher menu screen 700 (FIG. 7). In these embodiments, thenumber of stars next to category 1002 may indicate the level ofpreference for the category. Any other suitable preference system, suchas thumbs up and thumbs down system, may be used. The user may highlightany category and press a key such as a favorites key on input device 108(FIG. 1) to modify the preference level. Number indicator 1004 mayindicate the number of subcategories within category 1002. Selectingcategory 1002 with a non-zero number indicator may display a screensimilar to screen 1000 which lists the selected category and itssubcategories.

FIG. 11 shows display screen 1100 for customizing a user's favorites.Display screen 1100 may include a variety of sports categories orclassification options, such as MLB option 1102. A user may view moreoptions by selecting more option 1104. After selecting a category indisplay screen 1100, display screen 1200 of FIG. 12 may be displayed tothe user. This display screen may allow the user to set a rating for anumber of subcategories of the selected category. For example, if theuser selects MLB option 1102 in display screen 1100, display screen 1200may include a listing of all the teams in the MLB, leagues within theMLB, types of games, or any other suitable subclassification orsubcategorization. A user may scroll through the listings and associateeither thumbs up rating 1204, thumbs down rating 1206, multiple thumbsup, multiple thumbs down, or no rating 1202 with each subcategory. Toview more subcategories, the user may select more option 1208.

Although a thumbs up/thumbs down system is used in some embodiments, anysuitable rating system may be used in other embodiments. For example,FIG. 13 shows display screen 1300 with a star rating system. The usermay select any entry in the favorites listings, such as entries 1302,1304, or 1306, to change the rating associated with the entry. Forexample, in display screen 1300, entry 1302 is associated with one-starrating 1308. In some embodiments, star ratings may range from zero stars(unrated) to five stars (the highest rating). A description of theselected entry, or of any content associated with the selected listing,may be displayed in text area 1310.

The user may also setup favorites from the game information screen, suchas display screen 600 (FIG. 6). Display screen 1300 of FIG. 13 is anexample of a favorites setup screen that may be accessed from the gameinformation screen. The favorites screen may list all categories inwhich the selected game appears. Categories may include the sport (e.g.,iThemes or full media guidance application list), level (professional,college, high school, Olympics, etc.), men's, women's, or mixed, theleague, the team, the event/tournament (e.g., Super Bowl or Tour deFrance), and/or the channel. The user may individually rate eachcategory. As described above, illustrative rating schemes may includeone to three thumbs down, neutral, one to three thumbs up, or a starrating system. Other rating systems (e.g., numeric) may also be used.Every game may receive a ranking based on the user ratings of each ofits associated categories. Preferences specified for multiple categoriesmay be given extra weight. The largest number of thumbs (up or down) orstars may be given highest precedence. Games with net negative orneutral rankings may not be included within the user's favorites in someembodiments. Games with net positive rankings may be listed in rankorder.

FIG. 14 shows display screen 1400 for setting parental control locks forsports-related content. Parental controls may be defined for sportingevents or other sports-related content (e.g., sports news, highlights,commentaries, and sports-themed movies). Parental control display screen1400 may be accessed from the game information screen, such as displayscreen 600 (FIG. 6), or by pressing an appropriate button or key (e.g.,a “Lock” key) on an input device, such as input device 108 (FIG. 1). Theparental controls may be linked to the main interactive media guidanceapplication parental controls and may be enforced regardless of whichapplication (the sports watcher application, the interactive mediaguidance application, or neither application) is active. Illustrativeparental control locks may include lock by channel, by title, or bysport. For example, parental control overlay 1402 presents several lockoptions to the user. The user may select to lock or unlock each optionby selecting lock status indicator 1404. To save the parental controlsettings displayed in parental control overlay 1402, the user may selectsave button 1406. If the user selects any individual attribute forlocking, then all current and future programs and games with matchingattributes may be locked.

FIG. 15 shows illustrative wagering display screen 1500. As previouslymentioned, the sports watcher application supports a comprehensiveinteractive sports wagering interface. The wagering interface maysupport both parimutuel and fixed odds betting. Through the interactivewagering interface, the user may build wagers and place these wagerswith a network transaction processing system (not shown). Thetransaction processing system may maintain a database of user accountinformation, including available balance information, on behalf of theusers of the wagering system. Wagers on sporting events, such asfootball and baseball games, may all be created and placed from the userequipment device using a series of interactive overlays and prompts. Towager on a game, the user may select the game the user would like towager on using game info screen 600 (FIG. 6), select wager option 616(FIG. 6), and view a game wager screen (not shown). On the game wagerscreen, the user may select the wager amount, the wager type, the wagerteam, and any other wager information. Wager types may include finalscore, half-time score, over/under, or any other sport-specific wagertype. The sports watcher application may display the bank balance, theodds, spread or money line, the anticipated payout based on the selectedoptions, and any other wager information. In some embodiments, a $1minimum balance may be required to access the game wager screen. Afterthe game has been completed, the user may reselect the game wager screento see the final results and payout, if any.

The user may select wager option 708 from sports watcher menu 700 (FIG.7) to view information about all pending and recent wagers, and toaccess other wagering features. When the user selects wager option 708(FIG. 7), the sports watcher application may display wagering menu 1502.Wagering menu 1502 may display multiple wagering options. For example,wagering menu 1502 may include summary information about previouslyplaced wagers. The user may be allowed to select a previous wager usingoption 1506. When the user selects a specific wager, the sports watcherapplication may display the date of the game being wagered upon, theteams involved in the contest, the type of wager, the amount of thewager and the possible or actual payout 1508, the team selected for thewager, the odds, money line or spread 1510, the status of the wager(e.g., wager confirmed, wager lost, wager won, or no action), and anyother suitable information concerning the selected wager. The wageringfeature may be based on “play money” redeemable for gifts, prizes, andsports-related merchandise, or the wagering interface may link to userbank account or credit information for real money wagering (if permittedby local laws). The user's current balance (which may be stored locallyon the user equipment or on a network location) may be displayed to theuser in balance area 1504.

Once the wager is confirmed, the wager amount is deducted from theuser's account balance. The wager information may then be transmitted tothe network transaction processing system for processing, if desired.Generally, fixed odds wagers (e.g., wagers on football, baseball, orbasketball games) are not transmitted to the network transactionprocessing system, but these wagers may be transmitted to the networktransaction processing system if desired. Parimutuel pool wagerinformation (e.g., wagers on horse races) may be transmitted to thenetwork transaction processing system so that the parimutuel poolsassociated with the wager may be updated centrally. Real-time wageringinformation, including current odds and payout information, may beprovided to all user equipment devices in the media system. When resultsof the wager are known (e.g., by reading the real-time score data feed),the user's balance may be automatically updated, and the next time thewagering screen is displayed, the status of the wager may be shown(e.g., amount won, lost, or no action).

The wagering system may enhance marketing and advertising efforts. Forexample, new users could be credited $100 when they sign up for awagering account. In some embodiments, if a user's balance is less than$1 with no active bets, the use may “declare bankruptcy” and get, forexample, another $50. With every wager, the user may be entered in adaily drawing for a $100 balance credit to the user's wagering account.A bonus may be given for subscribing to a premium sports package.Bonuses may also be given for correct trivia answers, completingsurveys, etc. The user's wagering account balance may be used for VODpurchases, pay-per-view movies, merchandise, etc. Interest may also beearned on game balances.

In some embodiments, a leader board is maintained on the network. Theuser may set up his or her username, screen name, or handle by selectinguser name option 1512. After selecting leader board option 1514, thecurrent leader board may be displayed to the user. This leader board maylist the top wager bank balances and the corresponding usernamesassociated with the top wagering account balances. The position on theleader board may be displayed, the time in position, the position on theleader board last week, etc. In some embodiments, a PIN may also bespecified via PIN option 1516 to access all wagering features. In thisway, unauthorized users are prevented from creating or submitting anywagers or accessing any wagering-related functionality.

The user may also select a fantasy sports option from the sports watchermenu screen, such as display screen 700 (FIG. 7), to access the fantasysports feature. Display screen 1600 of FIG. 16 shows an illustrativefantasy league display screen. Fantasy league menu 1602 may display theuser's active fantasy teams, such as teams 1604 and 1606. The user mayselect any one of teams 1604 and 1606 to access a number of optionsrelating to the selected team. For example, after selecting team 1606,display screen 1800 of FIG. 18 may be displayed.

Fantasy league menu 1602 may also list the sports with active fantasyleague play or for which new fantasy teams may be formed. In the exampleof FIG. 16, only professional hockey option 1608 is displayed,indicating to the user that only the professional hockey seasoncurrently has fantasy league play available for new teams/players. Afterselecting a sport from fantasy league menu 1602, the user may bepresented with display screen 1700 of FIG. 17.

A variety of fantasy sports league options may be available. Leagues foralternate sports (e.g., Olympics or marathon—where a team is a country)may also be supported. Leagues may open X days before a season starts,where X is any positive number. Each league may have a minimum andmaximum number of teams. Multiple leagues may be created for each sportbased on demand. For example, public leagues created as needed, andusers may be assigned as they join. Users may create and/or join aprivate league by entering the league name and an optional password.Typically, leagues will close at or before the start of season. In someembodiments, leagues may be designated “A,” “B,” or “C” leaguesdepending on the level of competitiveness and expertise of users withinthe league. Users may self-select a level. Leagues may also include“keeper leagues” that include the same players from year to year, orleagues may start anew each season.

FIG. 17 shows fantasy league display screen 1700. The deadline to join aleague and/or create a new league may be displayed in deadline area1702. To join a public league, the user may select join public leagueoption 1704. To join a private league, the user may select join privateleague option 1706. To create a new private league, the user may selectcreate private league option 1708. Public leagues may be created by thesystem operator, while private leagues may be created by individualusers of the fantasy league feature.

After selecting a fantasy team, the options presented to the user maydepend on the type of sport and on whether it is pre-season, duringseason, or post-season. In the pre-season, a user may name his or herteam when it is created. Player selection may proceed using an auctionor draft system. In an auction selection system, each team may be givenX dollars each season, and the players may bid for players. In a draftselection process, a round robin draft approach may be used, with theorder determined randomly or based on last season's results. A user mustparticipate in draft/auction in timely manner or may lose the franchiseor draft selection. The auction method may be preferred in someembodiments, as the auction can proceed even if some players do notparticipate fully. From the pre-season fantasy league screen, users maysee available players, statistics from previous seasons, other teams'selections, and abandoned franchises.

FIG. 18 shows fantasy league team screen 1800. During the season,statistics and standings may be updated automatically. In someembodiments, statistics and standings are updated daily (e.g., baseballleagues) or weekly (e.g., football leagues). A user may view individualplayer and overall team statistics from a fantasy league team menu. Inthe example of FIG. 18, the team menu may include an indication of theteam name in name area 1802 and an indication of the sport in sport area1804. The user may select yesterday's statistics option 1806 to viewstatistics for the previous day. A user may view the user's own teamstatistics by selecting my team option 1808. The standings of all teamsin the league may be displayed after selecting league standings option1810. Trades may be supported with other teams, with messaging betweenteams to facilitate the trade. To create and send a message (e.g.,instant message or email message), the user may select send messageoption 1812. Single and/or multi-player trades may be supported byselecting propose trade option 1814. Off-season trades may be made withother teams (for keeper leagues), and users can choose to abandon theirteam. In some embodiments, a user must actively rejoin the league beforethe start of the next season or their franchise will be lost. The topplayers in each league may get bumped from “C” to “B” leagues or from“B” to “A” leagues. Each team may also be given a limited number of freeagent drafts to replace injured players. To view a list of availablefree agents, the user may select free agent option 1816.

After selecting yesterday's stats option 1806, display screen 1900 ofFIG. 19 may be displayed. Display screen 1900 may include statisticsmenu 1902 with the team's current standing in area 1904. The points maybe broken down on a player basis. The players and their accumulatedpoints may be displayed in players area 1906. To view more informationabout an individual player, a user may select any player in players area1906 to receive detailed point break-down information. For example, asshown in display screen 2000 of FIG. 20, individual player menu 2002 maybe displayed after the user selects a specific player from players area1906. A break-down of the player's total number of points may be listedin points details area 2004. After the user is finished looking at thepoints details, the user may select done option 2006 to return to theprevious screen.

In the post-season, users may view the final player and team statisticsand standings of all teams in league. For example, display screen 2100of FIG. 21 shows illustrative league standings. League standings menu2102 may include a listing of all the teams in the league or the teamswith the greatest number of total points in the league. This listing ofteams in rank order may be displayed in area 2104. The user may selectany team in area 2104 to receive more detailed information about theselected team.

As previously mentioned, the sports watcher application also supportsenhanced reminder and recording options for sports-related content.Reminders may be set for any game or any category associated with agame. For example, FIG. 22 shows display screen 2200 for settingreminders. This screen may be displayed after selecting remind option610 (FIG. 6) from game information screen 600 (FIG. 6). In the exampleof FIG. 22, the user selected a reminder option from an ASU at USC gameinformation screen. The user may move highlight 2202 to any of theavailable categories associated with the ASU at USC game, such as thefootball category, college football category, ASU category, or USCcategory. More or fewer categories may be defined in other embodiments.The user may toggle a reminder indication, such as checkmark 2204, toturn the reminder on or off. Reminders on categories (e.g., “collegefootball”) may remind the user whenever an event matching the categoryis available or about to be broadcast. For example, other collegefootball games would match the “college football” category. As anotherexample, the user may select a team (e.g., ASU) to be reminded wheneverthat team is playing and/or the game is available within the mediasystem. Display screen 2200 may also include detailed information 2206about the selected game or category. A checkmark or similar icon may bedisplayed on the game info screen if any matching category has areminder set.

Similar to the process for setting reminders, a user may also schedulecustom recordings of sports-related content. FIG. 23 shows displayscreen 2300 for scheduling sports-related recordings. A user may selectto schedule recordings of a particular match-up (e.g., all ASU at USC orUSC at ASU games) or a particular category. For example, anysports-related content matching the college football category may bescheduled for recording with a single user selection of the collegefootball category in display screen 2300. A user may also schedule allgames featuring a particular team for recording. As shown in FIG. 23,team option 2302 may be selected to toggle the recording option on andoff. Scheduled icon 2204 may be displayed within the selected option toindicate that the option is scheduled for recording. A matchingscheduled recording icon may be displayed within the game informationscreen if any matching category has been scheduled for recording.

Another illustrative recording display screen is shown in FIG. 24.Display screen 2400 includes overlay 2402, which includes severalrecording options 2404, 2406, 2408, 2410, and 2412. The user may accessoverlay 2402 by selecting record option 2414 in the menu at the bottomof the display screen. To record (or schedule for recording) the currentgame, the user may select record option 2404. To record all gamesmatching an appropriate category (e.g., all Super Bowl games), the usermay select one or more of the desired category recording options 2404,2406, 2408, 2410, or 2412.

As previously mentioned, game commentary from a variety of sources mayalso be displayed to the user. Game commentary may include text,graphics, video, and interactive elements (e.g., interactive playbooks,polls, and discussion forums). FIG. 25 shows display screen 2500 foraccessing commentary content. The user may be presented with a number ofcommentary options, such as option 2502. The user may select anycommentary option to be presented with the associated commentary. Forexample, in some embodiments, the user is automatically linked to awebsite or interactive application containing the commentary. Thecommentary may also be displayed directly in display screen 2500, ifdesired. In some cases, commentary may be displayed automatically whenoption 2502 is highlighted. Title 2504 may be associated with thecommentary as well as commentary text 2506. In some embodiments, theuser may also leave feedback regarding the commentary that other usersin the media system may view when they access the same commentary. Thecommentary may include text, graphics, audio clips, and video.

To setup any of the sports watcher screens, the user may select a setupoption from the sports watcher menu, such as setup option 714 from menu702 (FIG. 7). After selecting the setup option, display screen 2600 ofFIG. 26 may be displayed. Under sports watcher setup menu 2602, the usermay adjust sports watcher-specific options by selecting, for example,HD/SD option 2604, widescreen/standard aspect ratio option 2606, singlevideo/PIP/side-by-side windows option 2608, scoreboard position option2610, scoreboard size option 2612, scoreboard timeout option 2614, andinstant replay configuration 2616. Options to setup the wageringconfiguration and fantasy league configuration may also be includedunder screen layout setup menu 2602.

From single video/PIP/side-by-side windows option 2608, the user selectsthe user's preference for either single video mode, PIP mode, orside-by-side window mode. Whatever mode is selected will be the defaultmode for the sports watcher application. If the video layout setupoption from quick menu 802 of FIG. 8 is selected, the user may bepresented with video layout selection display screen 2700 of FIG. 27.Different video layout options may be provided for widescreen andstandard aspect ratios. Area 2702 identifies selection 2704 as awidescreen split screen video layout. The user may move cursor 2704 toany video layout format option (or select more option 2706 or press adown arrow or page down key to see additional video layout formatoptions).

FIG. 28 shows display screen 2800 with scoreboard adjust overlay 2802.Scoreboard adjust overlay 2802 allows the user to customize the size,position, and/or timeout of the scoreboard, such as scoreboard 302 (FIG.5). The user may select size option 2804 to change the defaultscoreboard size from small to medium or large. The user may selectscoreboard vertical position option 2806 to change the scoreboard fromthe top to the bottom of the screen. Using scoreboard horizontalposition option 2808, the user may select to change the side of thescreen on which the scoreboard is displayed (e.g., left, right, orcenter). In addition to options 2804, 2806, and 2808, additionalscoreboard options may be defined. For example, the user may select abanner or box scoreboard format in some embodiments. The user may alsoselect how much game information (in addition to the score) should bedisplayed in the scoreboard. For example, the user might select toalways display the current clock time or time remaining inside thescoreboard, if available. The user may also wish to see quarter, half,inning, or game summary information within the scoreboard.

As with traditional media guidance applications, the sports watcherapplication may include full listings of sports events and otherprograms on broadcast television, as well sports events availableon-demand. The sports watcher application may sort the listings by time,by sport, by type of program (e.g., game, classic, highlights,commentary, interview, news update), etc. The listings may be displayedin table or grid form. Sports listings may include the current score ifthe game is in progress or has recently ended. Listings may also includeextended information (teams and location, odds, etc.), and commentaryfrom one or more sports personalities.

In some embodiments, the sports watcher application may include aprogram guide interface called the Game Guide. The Game Guide may beused to provide search results for a sports related search. Differentresults may be displayed in the Game Guide, which the user may select toquickly tune from game to game. The results on the Game Guide mayinclude the teams and the status of the game in progress (e.g., who hasthe ball, the current score, time and quarter). The Game Guide maymodify the display for a game when the game reaches a given moment(e.g., display the box in red when a team reaches the red zone, or has arunner in scoring position). The Game Guide may be displayed as anoverlay over the video of one or more games, if desired.

The sports watcher application may also include an interface into theoperator's sports packages and other offerings. The interface mayinclude a list of available sports packages (purchased and unpurchased),the title and description of each package. The user may perform a numberof actions with each package. For example, the user may view a list ofgames that are part of the package (to the extent that data isavailable), purchase a package upgrade, add package contents to theuser's favorites, or set automatic reminders for package contents.

A user may also access sports content on-demand via a sports on-demandfeature. For example, recent games, classic games, commentary videos,help videos on Sports Watcher features, fundamental video lessons (e.g.,Wagering 101, Fantasy Sports 101), a “for Spouses” series (e.g.,football for spouses), and various “How To” videos (e.g., pro tips onsports activities) may all be accessed on-demand (and for an additionalfee, if desired).

The sports watcher application also provides a number of opportunitiesfor targeted advertising. In addition to generally targetingadvertisements based on the sports demographic, advertisements may befurther targeted based on user preferences and user profile information.For example, if the user has selected the NY Yankees as the user'sfavorite team, advertisements to purchase Yankees tickets, memorabilia,or other products may be displayed to the user in any of the displayscreens shown herein.

The sports watcher application may use additional data as part of theinteractive media guidance application, beyond the data provided by theprogram listings source. The data may include improved sports genres(e.g., sport, professional, college, high school, amateur,international, Olympics, men's, women's, mixed, league, team, andtournament information for each game), availability in different formats(e.g., HD and SD), odds and point spreads, commentary from one or moresources, and data for fantasy sports leagues. As described above, someor all of this data may be provided as part of a plurality of real-timedata feeds or streams. These data feeds or streams may be received bythe user equipment device from one or more data or content sources(e.g., content source 130, supplemental content source 120, or datasources 140 (FIG. 1)). Such data may include program run time updates(game is going long, in overtime, etc.), scores, other real-time statusupdates, data for games being broadcast, as well as games that are notavailable on air, real-time commentary, other sports news items that maynot be game related, data for fantasy sports leagues, and any othersuitable data. The sports watcher application may also permit two-waydata exchanges, for example for exchanging data with other members offantasy sports leagues. Extended sports program metadata may be defined,including television program listings, VOD metadata, data for games notbroadcast on television, universal game/program IDs, live score andstatus information (e.g., game delayed, running long), and ticker data.Any of the foregoing data may be delivered in an on-demand or carouselfashion.

In addition to the various data feeds, various types of messages may besent between users in sports watcher mode. The message may includereal-time Instant Messages (IMs) or email messages that are delivered tousers in real-time, as well as custom sports watcher messages. Asports-specific message center (not shown) may be accessed to manage,view, delete, and send all user messages. In some embodiments, themessage center is web-based and accessible over the Internet.

FIG. 29 shows sports watcher options display screen 2900. Display screen2900 allows the user to customize some of the more common sports watcheroptions. To view and customize other options, the user may select moreoption 2914. Default replay time option 2902 allows the user to setdefault replay increments (in seconds) for various types of sports. Forexample, when the user presses a “Replay” button on an input device,such as input device 108 (FIG. 1), and a football game is currently inthe active window, the last 10 seconds of play time may be replayed. Theuser may customize this replay time. Faster-paced sports, such asbasketball and hockey, may have shorter replay times to better match theamount of play time the user is likely interested in replaying. The usermay define more or fewer sports than those shown in default replay timeoption 2902.

The user may also associate default replay speeds with particular sportsusing default replay speed option 2904. For example, the user may setfootball replays to run at normal (i.e., 1×) speed. A variety of slowmotion replay speeds (e.g., ½× and ¼× normal speed) and acceleratedreplay speeds (e.g., 2× and 4× normal speed) may also be defined. Theuser may associate any one of these speeds with a sport so that thesport will be automatically replayed in the desired speed. The user mayoverride the default speed and time settings during the actual replay,if desired.

The user may also customize the all-sports channel flipping featureusing option 2906. The user may limit channel flipping to only sportingevents, only sports-related content (including, e.g., sporting events,sports news, sports commentary, and sports-themed movies), or onlysports content of a particular sport or group of sports. System-definedor user-defined categories may also be selected. For example, a “popularsports” option may be selected where only channels currently showingbaseball, basketball, hockey, golf, and football games are included inthe channel flipping sequence. Channels displaying content that do notmatch the user's preferences in option 2906 may be automatically skippedin the channel flipping sequence as if the channels were not present inthe channel line-up.

The user may also customize which icons (e.g., game status icons) theuser would like to appear on the scoreboard, such as scoreboard 302(FIG. 5), using scoreboard icons option 2908. For example, as describedabove with regard to FIG. 5, several different types of scoreboard iconsmay appear within the scoreboard. These icons generally provide moreinformation about the game to the user, even if the game is not in theactive window or tuned by a tuner in the user equipment device. In theexample of FIG. 29, the user has selected commercial status icons,action icons, score icons, and milestone icons to appear in thescoreboard at the appropriate times. Commercial status icons may bedisplayed in the scoreboard when the game has gone to commercial and/orwhen the game is back from commercial. In this way, the user knows whenthe game has resumed from a commercial break. In some embodiments, inaddition to the commercial status icon appearing in the scoreboard, theuser's primary game may be automatically displayed in the active window(or made active) and/or brought into foreground view when the user'sprimary game resumes from a commercial break. For example, the user mayswitch to another game when the primary game breaks for commercial. Sothat the user does not miss any live action of the primary game, theprimary game may be automatically displayed in full-screen mode (andfirst tuned, if needed) when the primary game returns from a commercialbreak.

Action icons may be displayed when a drive, rally, or scoringopportunity occurs in a game listed on the scoreboard. For example, aneditor may monitor popular sporting events and associate an action flagwith the event in a real-time data feed transmitted to the userequipment device. The sports watcher application may parse these actionflags and display the appropriate action icon in the scoreboard next tothe appropriate score. Action icons may also be displayed automaticallywhen some predefined event occurs in the game. For example, when theclock time reaches a certain time, a predetermined number of points arescored within a predetermined amount of time, or any other suitableevent occurs, the appropriate game status or action icon may bedisplayed in the scoreboard. In some embodiments, in addition to theaction icons appearing in the scoreboard, the user's primary game may beautomatically displayed in the active window (or made active) and/orbrought into foreground view after an action flag is received for theuser's primary game. In some embodiments, the user's secondary game maybe brought into foreground view or displayed in the active window whenan action flag is received for that game.

Score icons may indicate that the score difference between the two teamsis less than a predetermined number of points (i.e., it is a closegame). For example a yellow exclamation point may be displayed in thescoreboard next to scores within a certain number of points (e.g., 10points). A red exclamation point may be displayed in the scoreboard nextto scores within some fewer number of points (e.g., 5 points). The scoreicons may attract the user's attention to the game so that the user doesnot miss an opportunity to view an exciting portion of the game. In someembodiments, in addition to the score icons appearing in the scoreboard,the user's primary (or secondary) game may be automatically displayed inthe active window (or made active) and/or brought into foreground viewafter a score icon is displayed next to the user's primary (orsecondary) game in the scoreboard.

Milestone icons include icons indicating to the user that some milestoneis about to be reached or surpassed. For example, when a quarterback isabout to reach 400 yards passing or a rusher is about to reach 1,000yards rushing, a milestone icon may be displayed in the scoreboard nextto the score associated with the game with the milestone opportunity. Insome embodiments, in addition to the milestone icon appearing in thescoreboard, the user's primary (or secondary) game may be automaticallydisplayed in the active window (or made active) and/or brought intoforeground view after a milestone icon is displayed next to the user'sprimary (or secondary) game in the scoreboard.

Flip banner detail option 2910 allows the user to select how muchinformation should be displayed in the flip banner, such as flip banner402 (FIG. 4). In the example of FIG. 29, the user has selected todisplay detailed game summary information as well as commentary in theflip banner. Other options might include score and clock time only,brief game summary information, detailed game information, detailed gameinformation with injury report, or any other suitable information. Insome embodiments, the user may be allowed to prioritize the types ofinformation that may be displayed on the flip banner in priority orderas space allows.

Viewing preferences option 2912 may include a list of sports criteriaset by the user that indicate the user's sports viewing preferences. Forexample, a user may indicate a preference for a particular sport orsports, team or teams, league or leagues, athlete or athletes, or anyother suitable criteria. In the example of FIG. 29, the user hasindicated that the user's sports viewing preferences include all NewYork based teams (e.g., Yankees, Mets, Rangers, Islanders, Nets, Knicks,Liberty, Giants, and Jets), professional sporting events (e.g., MLB,NFL, and NHL), and pre-season games. The user may also define any numberof sports (e.g., baseball and basketball), tournaments, or any othersuitable viewing preferences in viewing preferences option 2912. Theentries in viewing preferences option 2912 may be ranked or unranked. Asdescribed above, the position and rank in viewing preferences option2912 may be used, in some embodiments, to calculate user profile scoresin accordance with EQ 1.

After the user is finished setting preferences in display screen 2900,the user's profile may be created or updated as appropriate. Forexample, in some embodiments, the user's profile may be stored as asuitable data structure (e.g., table or array) locally in memory on theuser equipment device. In other embodiments, the user's profile may bestored on a central server or data source (e.g., data source 142 ofFIG. 1) so as to permit roaming access of the user's profile informationand preferences from a user equipment device other than the userequipment device from which the user profile was created.

Regardless of how or where the user's profile is stored, the profile maymaintain the user's current preferences and related sports watchersettings. The preferences and settings may be manually selected by theuser through an options display screen, such as display screen 2900, orthe sports watcher application may automatically set and/or update userpreferences in the user's profile on behalf of the user. For example,the sports watcher application may monitor all user interaction with theuser equipment device. From this monitoring, a user behavioral profilemay be created. For example, all user media content access requests ofsports programming may be logged and compared over time. As more andmore user access requests are logged, a pattern may be discerned by thesports watcher application. For example, the user may watch the NYYankees on the YES network more often than other types of sportingevents (and more often than any other baseball team). Using anycombination of information from the behavioral profile, active usermonitoring, and/or the user preferences, the sports watcher applicationmay automatically determine, for example, the user's frequently watchedteams, sports, channels, match-ups, leagues, etc. From thisdetermination, the sports watcher application may automatically selectany of the options shown in display screen 2900. These automaticselections may be saved to the user's profile and used as defaultpreferences, in some embodiments.

FIG. 30 shows illustrative process 3000 for simultaneously displaying aninteractive scoreboard on a display screen with sports content inaccordance with one embodiment of the invention. At step 3002, a userrequest for media content may be received. For example, the user may useinput device 108 (FIG. 1) to request a particular channel, on-demandvideo, or recorded content. At step 3004, media guidance applicationdata may be read for genre or subgenre information. For example, aprofessional football game may be associated with the sports genre andthe football subgenre. This media guidance application data may betransmitted from a suitable data source within media system 100 (FIG.1). For example, data source 142 may provide media guidance applicationdata for all types of media content accessible by user equipment 102(FIG. 1).

At step 3006, sports watcher application 106 (FIG. 1) may determine, atleast partially from the media guidance application data, if the userhas requested sports content. In addition to using genre information tomake the determination at step 3006, sports watcher application 106(FIG. 1) may also use other media guidance application data to make thedetermination. For example, the title or description of the content maybe searched for sports keywords (e.g., “football”). If, at step 3006, adetermination is made that the requested content is not sports-related,the requested non-sports content may be displayed to the user at step3012. If, at step 3006, a determination is made that the requestedcontent is sports-related, sports watcher mode may be automaticallyentered. This may include automatically executing sports watcherapplication 106 (FIG. 1), if the application is not already running onthe user equipment. One or more real-time score data feeds may then beautomatically accessed at step 3008. For example, supplemental contentsource 120 (FIG. 1) may provide live data feeds containing score, play,and up-to-date game summary information to user equipment 102 (FIG. 1).

After accessing the real-time data feed at step 3008, the user's profilemay be read at step 3010. If the user has defined preferences for whattypes of sports or games that should be included in the scoreboarddisplay, such as scoreboard 302 (FIG. 5), a custom scoreboard showingscores matching the user's preferences may be simultaneously displayedwith the requested content in a display screen at step 3016. If the userhas not defined preferences for the types of sports or games the userwould like to appear in the scoreboard display, a generic scoreboardwith all available scores or a predetermined subset of scores may bedisplayed simultaneously with the requested content at step 3014.

In practice, one or more steps shown in process 3000 may be combinedwith other steps, performed in any suitable order, performed in parallel(e.g., simultaneously or substantially simultaneously), or removed.

FIGS. 31A and 31B show illustrative process 3100 for designating primarysporting events and prioritizing tuners in accordance with oneembodiment of the invention. At step 3102, user profile information maybe accessed. At step 3104, sports watcher application 106 (FIG. 1) maydetermine if the user has setup sports viewing preferences. For example,the user's sports viewing preferences created from sports watcheroptions display screen 2900 (FIG. 29) (or using other suitable screenssuch as those shown on FIGS. 10-13) may be read at step 3104. If viewingpreferences are defined, media guidance application data associated withsports-related content currently accessible by user equipment 102(FIG. 1) may be accessed at step 3106. At step 3110, the media guidanceapplication data may be compared to the user's viewing preferences. Atstep 3118, user profile scores may be calculated at step 3118 based onthe comparison. For example, user profile scores may be calculated andstored in profile score column 236 of table 230 (FIG. 2B). In someembodiments, the profile scores may be calculated in accordance withEQ 1. The content with the greatest profile score may be automaticallydesignated as the user's primary sporting event at step 3120. Forexample, as shown in table 220 (FIG. 2B), the content with the top fouruser profile scores were assigned as primary sporting events to tuners 1through 4.

If the user's profile does not define viewing preferences at step 3104,sports watcher application 106 (FIG. 1) may next determine if editorsports picks are defined at step 3108. As described above, in someembodiments, editors may select particular sporting events as primaryevents and associate a special editor's primary event flag with themedia guidance application data for the selected sporting event orevents. If editor picks are defined in the system, at step 3112 theeditor flag may be read from the media guidance application data. Fromthese flags, one or more sporting events may be designated as primarysporting events at step 3114.

If editor picks are not available at step 3108, the user may manuallydesignate a sporting event as the primary sporting event at step 3116.In some embodiments, the user may not be aware of his or her designationof primary sporting events. For example, the first sporting event theuser accesses or requests may be automatically designated as the primarysporting event (absent editor picks or user viewing preferences), thesecond sporting event the user accesses or requests may be automaticallydesignated as the user's secondary sporting event, and so on. A user maychange the designation of primary and/or secondary sporting event at anytime by interacting with scoreboard 302 (FIG. 5) or pressing anappropriate key on a user input device, such as input device 108 (FIG.1). Although, in the example of process 3100, primary sporting eventsmay be designated using either user profile information, editor flags,or user selections, a combination of these three designation criteriamay be used in other embodiments.

Illustrative process 3100 continues in FIG. 31B. If the user equipmentdevice, such as user equipment 102 (FIG. 1), contains more than onetuner at step 3122, up to N−1 additional sporting events may bedesignated as secondary sporting events at step 3124. These secondaryevents may each be assigned to an available tuner (other than theprimary tuner, which has already been assigned to the primary event).The secondary games may be selected in any suitable manner. For example,they may include the sporting events with the greatest remaining profilescores from table 230 (FIG. 2B). The secondary games may also beself-selected by the user or selected by an editor.

At step 3126, each tuner may be associated with a primary or secondarysporting event. For example, table 220 (FIG. 2B) includes an indicationof a primary source identifier for each tuner in the user equipmentdevice. As shown in table 220, the tuners are assigned primary events inrank order according to the user profile scores of the sporting events.Thus, tuner 1 is assigned the sporting event with the greatest userprofile score, tuner 2 is assigned the sporting event with the nextgreatest user profile score, and so on. In addition to associating eachtuner with a primary or secondary sporting event at step 3126, eachtuner may also be automatically pre-tuned to its associated sportingevent.

At step 3128, user equipment 102 (FIG. 1) determines if the user hasrequested media content. For example, the user may select a scoredisplayed in scoreboard 302 (FIG. 5) or scoreboard 804 (FIG. 8) toautomatically display the game associated with the selected score. Asanother example, the user may input a channel number or execute achannel flipping command from an input device, such as input device 108(FIG. 1). If the user has requested media content at step 3128, at step3130 sports watcher application 106 (FIG. 1) determines if the requestedmedia content is already tuned by one of the tuners in user equipment102 (FIG. 1). Depending on the type of tuner, this determination may bemade in a number of ways. For example, sports watcher application 106(FIG. 1) may determine if a particular packet identifier (PID) streamhas been demultiplexed from the transport stream (for digital televisionsystems), if a particular channel carrier frequency has been acquiredand/or locked (for analog television systems), or if a particularnetwork group (e.g., multicast group) has been joined. Any other methodfor determining if content has already been tuned by a tuner within theuser equipment device may be used in other embodiments.

If the requested content is already tuned by a tuner within userequipment 102 (FIG. 1), the appropriate tuner output may be displayed,brought into foreground view, and/or made the active window at step3136. If, however, the requested is not already tuned by a tuner withinuser equipment 102 (FIG. 1), at step 3132 the tuners may be prioritizedbased on the content tuned by the respective tuners in the userequipment device. For example, as shown in table 220 (FIG. 2B) a simpleprioritization scheme may prioritize tuners in rank order according touser profile score of the content currently tuned by each tuner. Forexample, the tuner with the highest priority (tuner 1 in the example ofFIG. 2B) may be assigned to the primary sporting event. The tuner withthe next highest priority may be assigned to the sporting event with thenext highest user profile score, and so on. Tuners may be prioritizedbased on the content currently tuned by each tuner, or tuners may beprioritized based on the primary sporting event assigned to each tuner(even if that event happens to not be currently tuned by the associatedtuner). Any other suitable tuner prioritization schemes may also be usedin other embodiments. As previously mentioned, one goal of prioritizingtuners is that sporting events that the user is interested in (or likelyto be interested in) are tuned whenever possible. In this way, sportingevents (and other non-sports content) that are less important to theuser may be tuned away before important sporting events. This not onlyreduces the amount of tuning and decoding time required to displayimportant sporting events to the user, but also assures the user thatthe standard and enhanced video controls described above will beavailable to the user as often as possible because of, for example,tuner output buffering.

At step 3134, the requested content may be tuned using the tuner withthe lowest priority. For example, the tuner currently tuned to contentwith the lowest user profile score may be used to tune the requestedcontent. In this way, the sporting events of greater interest to theuser may remain tuned as long as possible. At step 3138, the requestedcontent tuned on the lowest priority tuner is then displayed to theuser, for example, in the main window or in a PIP/POP window.

In practice, one or more steps shown in process 3100 may be combinedwith other steps, performed in any suitable order, performed in parallel(e.g., simultaneously or substantially simultaneously), or removed.

FIG. 32 shows illustrative process 3200 for displaying and updating gamestatus icons within an interactive scoreboard, such as scoreboard 302(FIG. 5). At step 3202, an interactive scoreboard is displayedsimultaneously with a sporting event in a display screen. For example,control circuitry 110 (FIG. 1) may cause one of illustrative displayscreens 300 (FIG. 3), 400 (FIG. 4), 500 (FIG. 5), 700 (FIG. 7), or 800(FIG. 8) to be displayed on display device 104 (FIG. 1). As previouslydescribed, in some embodiments, interactive scoreboard 302 may beautomatically displayed when sports content is accessed or displayed.

At step 3204, one or more real-time status data feeds are received byuser equipment 102 (FIG. 1). Sports watcher application 106 (FIG. 1) mayparse the received status data feeds for status flags and other relatedgame status information. For example, real-time scores, clock time, andany other suitable game information may be included in the real-timestatus data feeds.

At step 3206, sports watcher application 106 (FIG. 1) may determine if acommercial status change has occurred. For example, in some embodiments,commercial status flags may be included in one or more of the real-timestatus data feeds received at step 3204. Sports watcher application 106(FIG. 1) may automatically monitor the status data feeds for incomingcommercial status change flags for the games associated with the scorescurrently displayed in the interactive scoreboard, such as scoreboard302 (FIG. 3). Additionally or alternatively, sports watcher application106 (FIG. 1) may monitor the black frame interval, audio level, and/orany other suitable audio or video characteristic of the content on allthe tuners in the user equipment device. From this information, sportswatcher application 106 (FIG. 1) may determine when a sporting event hasresumed from a commercial break without the need for commercial statuschange flags. In other embodiments, a hybrid approach may be used,whereby commercial status change flags are used in conjunction withaudio and/or video characteristics of the content stream.

If a commercial status change is detected at step 3206, a commercialstatus icon may be displayed, removed, or updated within the interactivescoreboard. For example, display screen 500 (FIG. 5) shows commercialstatus icon 502. In the example of FIG. 5, icon 502 is displayed whenthe game associated with the score displayed in the scoreboard hasreturned from a commercial break. Thus, the icon indicates that there isnow live play in the game associated with the score the icon isdisplayed adjacent to. In some embodiments, the commercial status iconmay flash for a predetermined amount of time in the scoreboard after acommercial break has ended in order to draw the immediate attention ofthe user. The user might then select to switch the display to a gamethat has returned from a commercial break. Any other graphical ortextual icons may be used in other embodiments.

After the commercial status icon is updated or displayed in thescoreboard at step 3208, or if no commercial status change is detectedat step 3206, at step 3210 sports watcher application 106 (FIG. 1) maydetermine if there is an action status change in any of the gamesassociated with scores currently displayed in the scoreboard. Actionstatus flags may be included in one or more of the real-time status datafeeds received at step 3204. From the action status flags, sportswatcher application 106 (FIG. 1) may determine, for example, if there isa scoring drive, rally, or any other event of potential interest to theuser currently occurring in any of the games associated with scorescurrently displayed in the scoreboard. As previously described, editorsmay actively monitor popular sports games for action events andassociate an action status flag with games with exciting action. Theaction status flags may be also be generated automatically, for example,when less than a certain amount of clock time is remaining in a game, aclose score is detected, or any other suitable event in the game occurs.

If sports watcher application 106 (FIG. 1) determines that there is anaction status change in any of the games associated with scorescurrently displayed in the scoreboard, at step 3212 an action statusicon may be updated, removed, or displayed in the scoreboard. Forexample, display screen 500 (FIG. 5) displays action status icon 504. Inthe example of FIG. 5, the icon is displayed when the game associatedwith the score has less than a predetermined amount of clock timeremaining. The amount of clock time remaining may also be displayed inthe scoreboard, as shown in scoreboard 302 of FIG. 5.

After the action status icon is updated or displayed in the scoreboardat step 3212, or if no action status change is detected at step 3210, atstep 3214 sports watcher application 106 (FIG. 1) may determine if thereis a milestone status change in any of the games associated with scorescurrently displayed in the scoreboard. For example, milestone statusflags may be included by an editor in one or more of the real-timestatus data feeds received at step 3204. The editor may associatemilestone status flags with, for example, game that have one or moreplayers approaching statistical milestones (e.g., 400 yard passer or1,000 yard rusher).

If sports watcher application 106 (FIG. 1) determines that there is amilestone status change in any of the games associated with scorescurrently displayed in the scoreboard, at step 3216 a milestone statusicon may be updated, removed, or displayed in the scoreboard. Forexample, a graphical or textual icon may be displayed in the scoreboardthat optionally informs the user about the type of milestone or theplayer associated with the statistical milestone. The user may selectthe milestone icon using input device 108 (FIG. 1) in some embodimentsin order to be presented with a screen of detailed milestoneinformation.

After the milestone status icon is updated or displayed in thescoreboard at step 3216, or if no milestone status change is detected atstep 3218, the score or summary information displayed in the scoreboardmay be updated at step 3218. In some embodiments, scores and summaryinformation are automatically updated as real-time score information isreceived by the user equipment device. In other embodiments, score andsummary information displayed in the scoreboard are updated periodically(e.g., every 5 seconds).

Although the scoreboard icons described above are illustrated in termsof a specific sport (e.g., football), in some embodiments, the icons mayinclude custom icons for each type of sport. For example, an action iconfor tennis may resemble a bouncing tennis ball, while an action forsoccer resembles a bouncing soccer ball. Using tennis as an example,these action icons may be displayed when there is a tie set, at setpoint, at match point, or at any other suitable time when the user mightbe interested in quickly changing to the match. The icons and alertsdescribed herein may be expanded to support other sports, includingnon-traditional sports and multi-sport tournaments, such as theOlympics. For example, a user may designate a home country (e.g., theUSA) in the user's profile. Suitable icons may be displayed in thescoreboard when the user's home country is about to win a medal (e.g.,gold), go ahead in total medal count, or any other suitable eventoccurs. The top finishers in each event may be displayed in lieu of ascore within the scoreboard.

In practice, one or more steps shown in process 3200 may be combinedwith other steps, performed in any suitable order, performed in parallel(e.g., simultaneously or substantially simultaneously), or removed. Anysuitable combination of icons and alerts may be shown on the scoreboard,including icons and alerts not described herein. The status ofconditions affecting these alerts and icons may be monitored or checkedin any suitable order or at any suitable interval.

FIG. 33 shows illustrative process 3300 for implementing an all-sportschannel flipping function. As previously described, the all-sportschannel flipping function may be useful for users who wish to quicklysurf through the available channels currently showing sporting events orsports-related programming. At step 3302, media guidance applicationdata is accessed about a plurality of channels. For example, sportswatcher application 106 (FIG. 1) may read genre and/or subgenreinformation about the programming currently being shown on all thechannels in the user equipment channel line-up or channel map.

At step 3304, the type of content currently showing on each of theplurality of channels may be determined. For example, the genre orsubgenre information may be used to determine the type of content insome embodiments. Additionally or alternatively, a keyword search of thetitle or summary information of the content currently showing on eachchannel may be executed. The content matching certain keywords may beautomatically designated as a particular type of content. For example,content with the “NFL” or “football” keyword appearing in the title orsummary information may be automatically designated as sports content.

At step 3306, sports watcher application 106 (FIG. 1) may determine ifthe user profile defines channel flipping preferences. For example, insome embodiments, the user may set channel flipping preferences fromsports watcher options display screen 2900 (FIG. 29). In otherembodiments, as described above, preferences in the user's profile maybe selected automatically by sports watcher application 106 (FIG. 1). Ifthe user's profile does not define channel flipping preferences, at step3308 a channel line-up may be built including only those channelscurrently showing sporting events (or sports-related content). If theuser's profile does define channel flipping preferences, at step 3310 achannel line-up may be built that includes only channels matching theuser's flipping preferences. For example, as shown in sports watcheroptions display screen 2900 (FIG. 29), the user has selected specificsports to be included in the all-sports channel flipping function usingchannel flipping option 2906. Therefore, only channels showing thesports enumerated in channel flipping option 2906 may be included in thechannel line-up at step 3310. All other channels may be omitted from theline-up for the purposes of the all-sports flipping function.

At step 3312, a determination is made whether the user has requested tochange channels using the all-sports flipping function. In someembodiments, the user defaults to the all-sports flipping function forall channel up or channel down requests while in sports watcher mode. Inother embodiments, a separate button or button are defined on an inputderive, such as input device 108 (FIG. 1). The user may use the regularchannel up and channel down buttons to flip through the entire channelline-up (i.e., all channels) and special all-sports channel up andchannel down buttons to flip through the channel line-up built in step3308 or 3310. In some embodiments, the user may use the regular channelup and down buttons to flip through all sports programs, and a separatebutton (e.g., a favorites button) to limit flipping further to onlyprograms matching the user's preferences.

If a request is received to change channels using the all-sportsflipping function, at step 3314 the next channel in the channel line-upis displayed to the user. For example, the next channel showing sportscontent in the direction of channel flipping may be displayed to theuser at step 3314. This channel may be displayed in the main window orPIP/POP window. If no request to change channels is received at step3312, illustrative process 3300 may begin again at step 3302. Newchannel line-ups may be built during idle channel flipping time or atperiodic intervals (e.g., every 15 minutes). In this way, the channelline-ups are refreshed on a regular basis to ensure that the channelline-ups include only sports-related content.

In practice, one or more steps shown in process 3300 may be combinedwith other steps, performed in any suitable order, performed in parallel(e.g., simultaneously or substantially simultaneously), or removed.

The above described embodiments of the invention are presented forpurposes of illustration and not of limitation, and the presentinvention is limited only by the claims which follow.

1. A method for sports-related media content tuning in a multi-tunersystem, the method comprising: tuning to a first sporting event on afirst television channel with a first tuner; tuning to a second sportingevent on a second television channel with a second tuner; receiving anindication of a primary sporting event, wherein the primary sportingevent is one of the first sporting event and the second sporting event;receiving a user request to tune to a first media content that is notcurrently tuned by either the first tuner or the second tuner; inresponse to receiving the user request, selecting a tuner other than thetuner tuned to the primary sporting event; and tuning to the first mediacontent with the selected tuner, whereby the first media content istuned without tuning away from the primary sporting event. 2-127.(canceled)